Skin Deep
by xsphinxslady
Summary: Two years after vampires coming out of the coffin Rogue leaves the Manor to visit her only remaining family in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Given away at birth by Sookie's maternal aunt, will she find a home or just another string of dangerous events and deadly circumstances? Godric/Rogue/Eric starting around Ch. 19 where I stop following Sookie/Remy for most of their trip to New Orleans.
1. Prologue

**Skin Deep**

_Author's Note: And now you're probably really cursing at me. Yes…in the author's note for Multiversed I specified plot _bunnies_ as in more than one. I'm not the first person to write a TrueBlood/X-Men crossover but I'll probably be one of the first to finish a good one that actually makes sense without turning either Rogue or Sookie into a Mary Sue…at least that is my goal._

_So here we are: an A/U Rogue & Sookie are related fanfic from your's truly. I'm still shaky on the pairings so you can throw out ideas either in reviews or pm's I'm leaning either Eric, Godric, or both. Sookie I'm thinking either Logan or Remy? Input is appreciated but no flaming if I don't go your way. I expect more than just a name too, I would like a reason for whoever you throw the girls with._

_As with all my Rogue fanfictions the major differences from the movie verse is that 1) She never took the cure and 2) She killed the Phoenix by absorbing her. And like my Sookie from Stay she'll be a whole lot stronger and smarter…I just don't DO weak heroines._

_On with the plot bunny!_

_Disclaimer: _I own nothing! Except my laptop and my dogs that is….

**Prologue**

Sighing Rogue stands over her adoptive dad's old beat up Army bag. Glancing around the room at the Manor that has been her refuge since the Alcatraz incident two years ago she spies the package that arrived yesterday on her twenty-fourth birthday. Every year like clockwork she gets a package from Bon Temps, Louisiana ever since her best-friend Remy tracked down her birth family for her and gave her cousins and their grandmother her address.

Fingering the dog tags around her neck she closes her eyes for a moment, holding back a tear.

"Time to grow up, Rogue." She whispers to herself as she lifts them from their long-time home around her neck. Time to face reality.

Mutants are finally getting a fair shake now that vampires have come out of the coffin just after Alcatraz. Turns out that there is something humans fear more than the _possibly _dangerous mutant and it's the _definitely _dangerous undead. Although it's looking like normals are having an easier time accepting vampires because of the mutants and vice versa.

It's a topsy-turvy world and it's time for her to stop burying herself here.

A soft knock on the door has her zipping up her duffle and slinging over her shoulder, grabbing the one-way ticket to NOLA off of the now-emptied end table.

As usual Logan doesn't wait for an invitation before striding into her – now former – room.

"Ya don't hafta go, kid." He said gruffly as he takes in the stripped-down room. Kid spent the better part of eight years in this place and all she owns still fits inside a duffle bad. Sometimes she's too much like him for her own damned good. No roots makes it easy to run and hard to stay, although they've both given it a helluva try here.

"I know, Logan." Rogue said with a soft smile for her oldest friend. "But they've been reachin' out ta me for years now. I won't feel right until I give 'em a chance. Besides," she shrugged. "I'm a little old ta be a student and Lord knows I can't teach worth a damn."

_And bein' a superhero is too damned dangerous when you can kill as easily as takin' your next breath. _She said with a long look that hangs there between them.

"I know, kid." He rubs the back of his neck, wishing he had the right words to make her stay. To keep her safe. "I'm gonna miss ya, Marie."

Moving over to him she gives him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek – one too quick to transfer anything – then she presses his tags into his hand.

"These belong with you now." She said with a quiet look. For a long time she held onto them and her childhood crush on her scruffy protector but now it's time to let go. Time to stand on her own, something she will never be able to do completely as long as she's here.

The temptation to lean on him is just too damned strong.

Blinking back the moisture that's stubbornly gathering behind his eyes, Logan ruffles her head with one large hand.

"Take care-a yourself, kid." He said giving her one last bone crushing hug. "Ya need anything, ya call me. Got it?" He nearly growled at her, giving her a strong warning look.

With a laugh she agreed, moving around him and out into the hallway where they made their way to the garage and spent the ride to the airport in comfortable silence. She didn't tell anyone else she was leaving and she doesn't regret that one damned bit. When push came to shove, Logan was the only one there for her, the only one who even tried to understand what she was going through.

Everyone else in that fancy house/school/vigilante base were too damned scared of her to be anything to her.

And after years of being the odd one out, she finally became okay with it. She's not scared of herself, not anymore but she still understands why others are.

She just hopes that this time is different.

Maybe this time she'll really find where she belongs.


	2. Chapter 1

**Skin Deep**

_A/N: I need any/all ideas for pairings by/before Chapter Five is released so I can start working the plots. Until then I'll mainly be establishing the familial relationships between Rogue and the Stackhouse crew and deciding who from the X-Men series is going to show up in the first part of the story if any. Review or PM to give me your input for pairings. Once I make a decision I'll change the story information to reflect the pairings for filtering._

_Remy has his cameo in this chapter, he'll mostly speak French since his Cajun accent can be a pain to write and read. If you want to see more of the Prince of Thieves let me know._

_Disclaimer:__ If I owned any of these characters I wouldn't be so broke._

**One**

_New Orleans, LA_

After shaking off the jitters she gets whenever she's forced to spend time with a group of random strangers in an enclosed space aka taking commercial/group transportation, Rogue dropped her bag off at a little known motel well off the tourist track, ignoring the sideways look from the clerk, changing in the tiny but clean room into something a little less New York and a little more NOLA. Trading her simple skirt/sweater/heels set – boring but blendable – for something more her in the form of tight low-rise jeans, low-heeled boots she can fight and run in, and a tight leather vest under a totally see-through nude-lace long sleeved top.

Rolling her neck and her shoulders Rogue instantly feels more herself as she tousles her hair into a wild man and adding some black liner and mascara with some berry gloss to her dark-rose lips. Slicking one leather-gloved hand down her hip she flashes a wicked grin at the floor-length mirror hanging on the back of the closet door.

_Time to go hunting for a thief. _She laughs to herself, ignoring the internal groans coming from the majority of the male minds within herself. Her Psykes tend to keep quiet now that she's grown older and more confident but sometimes they can't help themselves.

Except for a couple that hardly ever go away.

_I still don't get why we're lookin' for the Swamp Rat, kid. _Logan grunts at her.

_Much as it pains me, my child. _Erik's smooth tones filled her mind. _I must agree with the ruffian in this. You came to this…locale to find what's left of your family not socialize with riffraff._

Rogue barely kept a smirk from crossing her face at the disdain that just about drips from Magneto's mental voice, just waiting for one of her other constant companions to pipe up at the insult. And right on time:

_Hey now. _Remy's deep-South Cajun accent chimes out. _Gamit not be that bad._

_Yes you are. _Logan, Erik, and John aka Pyro say together, causing Rogue to let out the laugh brewing just under the surface. Gambit is just about universally hated by her other Psykes just for being himself – a playboy, badass, and general shifty-type person. Pretty much every reason why she likes him.

_Now, now. _She chides them as she strides from the room and out into the sauna-like city. _I wouldn't even know I still have family left if it wasn't for Remy. Let alone where to find 'em._

Silenced – for the moment – the hitchhikers in her head left her alone as she moved quickly through the city towards her destination – the French Quarter. More accurately, every dirty, dingey bar or casino in the Quarter where a boozing, womanizing, card-playing thief might be lurking. At least this time she knows what she's looking for unlike the time after Alcatraz when Storm sent her down her without so much as a description beyond "dangerous mutant who plays cards and like pretty women."

Yeah…thanks for that one 'Ro.

Smoothly balancing on the line between calling attention to the fact that she's looking for someone and intentionally drawing the right amount of attention expected from a female in the Quarter, Rogue moved from one bar to the next, dancing here, having a drink there, stopping for a flirt every now and then. By the time she's been to half a dozen bars and smoky clubs she noticed the small group of men who began to expertly shadow her after the fourth bar. A small smile graces the smooth curve of her lips as she moves onto the seventh spot on her list – and the most likely to find the Prince of Thieves. With a flick of her lashes at the group of now-startled men – friend or foe yet to be determined – she ducks into the little bar/casino/club owned by the Thieves Guild and operated by Remy's sister-in-law.

_Ah. _She thinks in satisfaction as the men hesitate before following her. _Assassins then. Excellent, I could use a good fight._

No Thief worth their entrance into the Guild would've stumbled before following her into their own turf or made it so obvious they were following her.

_Assassins. _Her inner-Remy snorts. _Always be 'inking de be better dan de are._

Immediately Rogue moves over to the bar, taking in the place with a glance before focusing on the – surprise, surprise – card game going on in the corner. The small flurry of action that came after the Assassins appearance didn't even merit a glance from the _très dangereux_ Prince of Thieves. Shooting back the whiskey Merci poured for her with a grin and wink she nods towards the Assassins with a jerk of her head. Well aware of Rogue's potential for asskicking from the last time she was in NOLA, Merci motioned to a couple of her boys to keep the Assassins busy for the moment while Rogue holds up one finger to her lips then points to Remy's back.

Grinning, Merci nods wishing her luck. Not many can sneak up on the king of sneak but Rogue just might manage it under the commotion those Assassin assholes are making.

Keeping one finger to her lips in the universal sign for quiet Rogue creeps up on silent feet behind the rather large form of Gambit. For all that he's rather lean the mutant is still very wide and muscular, taking great pride in his appearance. Leaning down she whispers in his ear as he gives a barely-perceptible startled jerk of his eyes.

_"Savez-vous où je peux me trouver un homme mauvais?" (Do you know where I can find myself a bad man?) _She asks in his native French.

With a smooth smirk he tilts his head to trail his eyes up and down his friend.

_"Non, mais je sais où vous pouvez trouver un bon voleur, ma chère." (No, but I know where you can find a good thief, my dear.)_

Whooping Remy tosses his cards onto the table – face-down of course – and picks up Marie in a bone-crushing hug, whirling her around in circles.

_"Vous avez obtenu une meilleure, cher." (You've gotten better, dear.) _He said close to her ear referring to her sneakiness, uncaring as always of her skin.

"Not good enough." She said with a laugh, jerking her head towards the Assassins that tailed her into the bar. "I picked up a few parasites on the way here."

"Eh, is your hair. Makes you easy ta spot," Remy waved that off with a hand. "You lot jus' sit here and watch Gambit an' the Rogue work, now."

Laughing at the rude gestures and obscene comments from his brother and friends Remy puts Rogue down and slings one arm over her shoulder, sauntering idly over to the low-level thugs still trying to make trouble for the sweet Merci and her boys.

"You boys lookin' for me?" Rogue asked sweetly, batting her lashes as she poured the sweet southern honey in her voice.

"Or for Remy?" Gambit threw in, playing absently with a pair of cards in the hand not draped over his spicy-sweet cher. It's too damn bad Marie isn't willing to give ol' Remy a try. But after she threatened him with being cut out of her life after one-too-many close calls with her power he bowed out gracefully. He wished somebody would come up with a real solution for her power. No woman that warm 'n' loving should be stuck in the friend-zone forever.

*x*x*x*x*x*

After taking out the trash with Remy and dealing with the good-natured ribbing of Merci, Henri, and the rest of the Thieves – their version of a welcome-back party, Rogue sat down with a glass of whiskey and played an idle hand of poker with her other best-friend besides Logan.

"What you doin' down here, _cher? Cette sur cette entreprise familiale vous avait Remy déterrer quelques années en arrière?" (This about that family business you had Remy dig up couple years back?)_

Sighing she nodded wearily. "I jus' don' fit at the Manor anymore Remy. I'm too damn jaded an' seen too many bad thin's. I reached out a lil while after ya gave me the info I asked ya for. Kep' in touch ever since. I was nevah sure if…"

_"Si vous avez besoin d'une rupture ou pas?" (If you would need an out or not?) _Remy asked, understanding her motivation. Some people could live the life of an X-Man or a teacher at the school forever and be happy with that. Stormy, Hank, coupla others. But people like him, Roguey, and Wolvie…they either wind up needing either out or an outlet before they end up dead. Logan bein' as old and messed up as he is will probably make it a lot longer. But Remy and Roguey…they're a different manner of beast entirely.

Rogue shrugs. "No betta reason than family to leave the Manor." She said quietly. "It's one they can nevah dispute. Plus from what ya said and how they've been…they're good people. Probably won't mahnd a mutant cousin."

At that Remy pins her with a serious glance with his red and black "demon" eyes over his shades.

_"Vous avez toujours une maison ici avec moi, mon cher." (You always have a home here with me, dear.) _Remy said, deviating from speaking in the third person the way he only does around Rogue to pound home how serious his is about this subject. _"Mon père a été après moi de vous depuis qu'il vous a rencontré. Nous allons faire de vous un Maître Voleur encore." (My father's been after me about you ever since he met you. We'll turn you into a Master Thief yet.)_

With a grin he teases her over his adoptive father's adoration of the skills Rogue could bring with her into the Thieves Guild.

Returning his grin with one of her own she toasts him with the last bit of the whiskey in her glass before shooting it back with a salute.

"Tell ya what." She said climbing to her feet and giving him a farewell hug. "Thin's go south on me, I'll hightail it back ta Nawlins so fast it'll make your head spin."

"I'll hold ya to it." Remy whispered into her hair, giving her one last squeeze. _I'll hold you to it._

*x*x*x*x*x*


	3. Chapter 2

**Skin Deep**

_A/N: Welcome to my TrueBlood/X-Men crossover party! All events take place after an A/U version of the X-Men movies but at the start of Season 1 of True Blood._

_Reminder: Y'all have until Chapter Five gets uploaded to give my plot ideas/favored pairings for this story. Pairing options are as follows: Rogue with: Eric, Godric, or both. Sookie with: Logan, Remy, Sam, or Alcide._

_Disclaimer:_ I'm too broke to own any of these characters.

**Two**

_Bon Temps_

Sookie Stackhouse hung up the phone with a groan, running her hands through her sunkissed blonde hair she shrugs her shoulders and sighs. Sam needs a waitress to cover and even though it's both her day off and the day her cousin is supposed to hit town, oh of course she said yes. What kind of Southern Lady would she be if she left her boss, the only one who's kept her around this long, in a lurch.

Shaking her head she jogged up the stairs to change from her little yellow bikini she wore for sunbathing and into her Merlotte's uniform: tiny black shorts, tight white shirt, white sneakers, and a high ponytail. Giving herself a quick coat of mascara and a brush of some pink gloss she tossed down the applicator wand and sighed, giving herself a rueful look. Some days she wished she would've listened all those times Lala tried to teach her how to wear makeup but she's just not a makeup girl, she's downhome and natural and that's how she likes it…most of the time.

It would be fun to be a little less proper and a little wilder, maybe a little less "Crazy Sookie" with a permanent smile and a little more of a take-no-shit woman.

Who knows, maybe her cousin Rogue will teach her how. She must've learned all kinds of things in that fancy prep school she studied and then taught at for all these years.

Jogging back down the stairs she grabs her little denim purse and a jean jacket for later, then ran outside to give her Gran a hug before heading over to her rundown yellow compact car. _Poor thing either needs retired or shot. _Shaking her head she thinks of all the other things at the old farmhouse that need fixin' or flat-out replaced and lets the thought of a newer car just slide away.

There always seems to be somethin' that needs doin' or fixin' and that costs money. With Gran on a fixed income and Jason less than helpful unless it's pure muscle that's required, it falls onto Sookie's shoulders to keep the place going.

Some days she wishes for something, _anything_ to shake her out of the mind-numbing monotony of her life. Responsibility on top of propriety isn't exactly a recipe for excitement or adventure. But then she remembers all the good things that she has in her life, Gran, Jason, her friends, and she remembers the proverb:

_Be careful what you wish for._

*x*x*x*x*x*

Rogue pulled up out front of the little roadhouse and diner that her cousins' Grandmother Adele, _oh call me Gran,_ told her that she would find her cousins at. Sookie having been called in to work and Jason apparently having a permanent date with a barstool and the pool table. Not that Gran put it that way but Rogue is more than capable of reading between the lines.

She should, after all, she has a more…feral version of Jason in her head courtesy of Logan. Once you've gotten to know a carouser as well as she knows Logan spotting others of his same general type are pretty easy. Good thing she appreciates badboys in her friends and family since it's looking like she's inherited another in her blood cousin.

Dropping the kickstand down with a steady motion from years of riding motorcycles, Rogue dismounts the bike, a BMW HP-4 in black and blue that she really doesn't want to know how Remy got his hands on since they're limited release in the States with their 193hp _before_ she tinkered with the engine last night. Although she could guess where he got it but if she does that her moral compass might decide to act up and make her give it back.

Over her dead body is she giving this bike back.

Popping off her helmet and unzipping her custom leather riding jacket a little so she can flex her arms she looks around for a moment at the sleepy little town before just leaving the helmet propped on the seat rather than locking it down. Custom helmets, another gift from her old friend along with the leathers and the bike, are likely to be scarce in Bon Temps so finding it if some good-ol'-boy has a brain fart and decides to swipe it, it wouldn't be hard to find.

Jesus, and she thought Caldecott, Mississippi was small.

_Please, my dear. _Erik nearly begged. _Can't we relocate somewhere else? Paris is lovely in the Spring._

_He's righ', cher. _Remy agreed. _Gay Pari is a beâuté this time of year._

_Can it, peanut gallery. _Wolvie growled at them. _Marie said Bon Temps to meet her family so Bon Temps it's gonna be. Don't make me get outta my room…_

Laughing she thanks Wolvie before running one hand along her braid before calling it hopeless and unravelling it as she walks into the bar. Better kinked-out hair that's messy on purpose than helmet hair. Ruffling her hair one last time, Rogue lifted her gloved hand and placed it on the worn wood door.

_Wish me luck, guys. _She thought then pushed open the door.

*x*x*x*x*x*

It'd been a long shift for Sookie that lasted well-past the time she was supposed to be able to leave with Dawn calling out of her late shift after Sookie was already covering Bernice's lunch/dinner shift.

Just about the entire town is still buzzing about the scandal of the year: turned out that Old Jesse Compton was richer than sin and he gotten his money by selling his family's property across the graveyard from the Stackhouse's place to some _Northerner._

The deal had apparently been done some three years ago but the new owner waited until Mr. Compton passed before having crews come down and fix the place up. No one could quite figure out why, after all, what muckety-muck Yankee would want to live in Bon Temps?

"I hear it's a vampire that bought that place." Mrs. Fortenberry said with authority from her place entertaining her cronies at one table. "The soulless creature hypnotized ol' Jess into selling to him."

Rolling her eyes, Sookie set down the plates in front of each lady, keeping her Crazy Sookie smile firmly in place despite all the ugly thoughts swirling through the biddies' minds.

_Poor girl she'll never marry…_

_All the Stackhouses are just a little off…_

_I wish my Hoyt would stop following that Jason around…nothing but a bad influence._

_Used to be such a nice family, too bad they've fallen on hard times._

Moving with swift-footed assurance through the maze of tables and booths Sookie was just finishing up her rounds of her tables – thus ensuring better tips – when the door pushed open with a whoosh and a thump on the doorstopper. Most of Merlotte's turned nearly in unison to check out the newcomer that isn't familiar with the quirks of the door only to suck in a startled breath and send up a loud chatter of thoughts that gave Sookie an instant headache to the point that she almost missed the importance of the visitor.

_Why she could be Sookie's twin…except for that hair…and Sookie's a good girl that would _never_ wear clothes like that._ Arlene's sweet but judgmental thoughts are the ones that Sookie focused on.

Ignoring the stares, she wished that door hadn't made such an _entrance _of her entrance, Rogue moved farther into the room, propping herself up onto a stool at the bar and giving the huddled masses a sardonic look complete with arched eyebrow ala-Wolvie. Nearly as one they all returned to their prior activities except for a couple, and the buzzing whispers almost overpowered her heightened senses – also courtesy of Logan.

Turning to the blonde standing at the end of the bar and acting like they weren't the newest hot-topic item in Bon Temps, Rogue leans on the bar with a wicked grin at her cousin.

"Hey cuz, how're things?" She laughed as Sookie moved around the bar like lightening to give her a firm squeeze, calling for Jason the whole time.

"I'm good." Sookie said with a flashing grin. "Gran tell you where I am?"

"Mhmm." Rogue nodded as she smiles at the handsome sandy-blonde male that made his way over to the women. "Said you got called in and that Jason would probably be wettin' his whistle here so I thought I might as well come on over."

"And we're glad you did." Sookie said before waving off Sam's motion to get back to work.

Picking his new cousin up in a bear hug Jason spun her around for a moment.

"Good to see ya." He said with a grin that matched his sister's charm.

"I've gotta get back to work before Sam fires me." Sookie joked with a look at her eavesdropping boss. "Jason will take care of you while I do this, ok? I'll stop and talk on my break."

"Sounds good." Although years in the North had restrained her accent for the most part, it's still present, getting even stronger around Remy and others with rich Southern accents although Remy's is Cajun not strictly Southern.

Holding up one finger for Jason to wait Rogue gave her order for a whiskey neat to the shaggy-haired bartender that Sookie pointed out as her boss Sam. Nodding and handing him some cash she picked up her glass before taking Jason's offered arm and went off to meet the locals.

After being introduced to Jason's friends and taking them up on a friendly game of pool with the four of them on two teams, her and Jason's friend Hoyt against Jason and their friend Rene, they made casual conversation with the guys asking her questions about herself without coming off as prying.

"Why we never met you before?" Rene asked finally as he leaned over the table to take a shot.

Trading a glance with Jason she sighed. Rogue knew this question would get asked sooner or later. Better to deal with it now rather than later. At least with the number of people eavesdropping on them she won't have to answer this question very often after tonight.

"Ah was adopted. Ah guess my mama, Sookie and Jason's aunt Patricia on their mama's side, didn't want to deal with havin' a daughter outta wedlock. Ah didn't know about bein' adopted til I was eighteen when a lawyer showed up at the school Ah was livin' at to tell me."

Hoyt gave a low whistle. "That's a rough thing to learn outta the blue like that."

Rogue and Jason trade a sad glance. They'd learned over time what led to her being given up but it isn't a tale for public consumption.

"That it was." Rogue nodded, taking her shot in turn. "But once Ah did Ah had a friend of mine down in Nawlins do some diggin' an' he found the Stackhouses here," she points to Jason and Sookie who'd come over at Hoyt's whistle. "An' Ah sent 'em a letter tellin' 'em who Ah am an' all. Guess their Gran knew about it from way back but there wasn't anythin' Ms. Adele could do at the time."

"Gran tried." Sookie gave Rogue's shoulder a squeeze.

"Ah know." Rogue smiled at her. "Anyway mah friend down in Nawlins sent me a ticket a while back to come 'n' visit an' Ah finally decided to use it." She holds out her arms in a "here I am" gesture.

Sookie gave her a smile and told them her shift is over – Sam isn't making her stay to close up since she wound up covering a double – and she'd meet them in a minute.

Waving her off Rogue gave Jason a wink as she sunk the eight ball for the win.

"Dang girl." Her cousin whistled putting up his cue stick with a laugh. "Where'd you learn to shoot pool like that?"

"Oh, here and there." She said vaguely thinking of Logan and Remy. Walking over to the ledge that held her drink she gave her cue gratefully over to Rene to put up before finishing her drink. Waiting on Sookie they stood around chatting, planning on having a real discussion at Gran's.

Seeing Sook walk out from the back with her jacket on, Jason and Rogue waved goodbye to his friends before moving with her out the door. Jason gave her an incredulous look when he caught sight of her vehicle.

"_That's _why you're dressed like that." He laughed. "I bet half the people in Merlotte's think you're some kinda sex deviant and the whole time you just ride motorcycles."

"More than half." Sookie said ruefully rubbing her temples as she moves over to her little hatchback with an envious look at her cousin's shiny machine.

Wincing Rogue picked up her helmet as Jason gave them both a wave and went to his pick-up taking off before the girls.

"Sorry 'bout that Sook." Rogue said quietly, putting on her helmet and starting the bike.

Sookie just shrugged. It's the nature of her curse to hear nasty things and sad to say she's rather used to it.

"Race you there." She teased and Rogue just gave a belly laugh as she waited for her cousin to climb into her little car and take off.

Once she was gone, Rogue straightened up from her slouched posture, giving a penetrating look around the shadowed parking lot of Merlotte's. Maybe it's just her danger-sensors being out of whack in a new environment but something just felt _off._

Shrugging she leaned over the top of the bike and takes off, catching up to Sook and Jase easily. Whatever or whoever was out there better watch out. The Stackhouses aren't on their own anymore.


	4. Chapter 3

**Skin Deep**

_A/N: So I'm thinking I'm going to go with Sookie/Remy and Rogue/Eric with the possibility of doing Rogue/Eric/Godric if it feels right once I get into Season 2 events but I'm not sure on that yet. I'm still not starting work on the pairings for another couple chapters so you still have time to give opinions/feedback on the pairings before they're set in stone._

_For clarification: like in some canon in this story Storm sent Rogue (she would've been 17) to NOLA to find Remy to call in a favor. But since Storm and Logan trust Rogue after everything she's been through they didn't have a problem sending a teenager to corral Gambit for Storm. Because let's face it, Rogue isn't anywhere close to being the right age mentally or maturity-wise with all the people she has running around in her head._

_Disclaimer:_ I only wished I owned these characters.

**Chapter Three**

Following the car and truck up the pitted gravel driveway leading to the Stackhouse family home Rogue fought off a fit of nerves. Better to come clean about her mutant status now than deal with the potential fallout of trying to hide it from her own kin. Besides from everything she's seen and their letters over the years they seem like good-hearted people.

_Don't worry 'bout it, kid._ Her inner Logan, quiet for the most part letting Wolvie do the talking, spoke up. _There's other places you can go, darlin'._

_Logan be right, cher. _Remy comforted her. _The Rogue always be welcome wit' the T'ieves._

_Thanks, guys. _She smiles. No matter where she winds up she'll always have her boys.

Sookie ushered Rogue inside while Jason holds open the door for the girls, acting the gentleman as his Gran had taught him for once.

"Where's your stuff, cuz?" Jason asked, looking around for a bag to take inside for her.

Gran bustled into the living room, wiping her hands on her apron. "I've already gotten her set up in the guest room, Jason." She smiled at the three of them with beaming warmth. "Sit, sit." She fluttered her hands towards the couch and the tray of sweet tea and cookies on the coffee table.

"Thank you for having me, Ms. Adele." Rogue said as she sat between her cousins on the faded, comfortable couch. "It'll only be for a little while."

"Nonsense dear." Adele smiled warmly at the young lady that looked so much like her Sookie. "Stay as long as you like. And it's Gran, dear."

"Gran," Rogue smiled back fleetingly before picking up a glass of tea and rolling it between her palms. "There's something we need to talk about before we get any further along."

Sookie and Jason trade a glance. For all that they've been corresponding for years with their cousin there it a lot of things that has been left out. Like how she wound up in New York for one, along with a host of other questions. Or how she afforded that bike parked outside.

Taking a deep breath Rogue studied the floor between her feet.

"I'm a mutant."

*x*x*x*x*x*

The Stackhouses shared a concerned glance over the bowed head of Rogue. They didn't understand why she said that with such dread before hunkering down like she's expecting a blow. What kind of life has she lived that such a thing as telling her family she's a mutant – something that's becoming more common by the day – makes her react in such a way?

Leave it to Jason to diffuse the situation before the poor thing could give herself a heart attack.

"That's ok, cuz." Jase said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "We're all a little off around here. Sook reads minds, Gran can make friends and find the good in anybody – whether they deserve it or not –" Adele just waved off the mild rebuke in her grandson's words. "And as for myself," he tucked his hands back behind his head and puffed out his chest. "Why, I'm just about irresistible to the ladies."

Sookie and Rogue share an incredulous look before collapsing into thunderous laughter as Jason looked on, pleased with their reaction to his boast. After letting the girls wind down their laughter while she looked on in pleasure that the comradery already blossoming between the young ones, Adele asked what she felt was a pertinent question.

"What is your mutation, dear?" She asked innocently, not prepared for the question's instant sobering effect on the young woman.

Standing up Rogue walked over to stare out the window at the quiet woods.

"Are you a mind reader like Sook?" Jase asked, his sister being the only person with "special" abilities he's ever come across before, all joking aside.

Rogue laughed bitterly, startling the Stackhouses into trading another concerned look.

"I wish my mutation is something so benign." She said at last, turning to look at what she hopes will still be her family after her explanation. They took her news of being a mutant better than she'd ever hoped for so that gave her a small degree of hope for how they'd take the next piece of information. "You know those dangerous mutants the news and anti-mutant groups are always talking about?" She asked, waiting for their nods before continuing. "I'm one of the worst. I'm a killer. When I touch people skin-to-skin I absorb them. Life, mind, soul, and if they're a mutant I get their power."

"I've seen you touch people," Jase said, frowning. "We've touched you."

She holds up her hands. "Covered from head-to-toe most of the time. I have some control now that I've had a decade to practice but it's not perfect and I prefer not to take a chance. The school I was at for so long is one for people like me."

"Is that why I can't get a read on you?" Sookie finally asked the question that's been burning at her all night.

"Yeah," Rogue smiled. It's one of the perks of her mutation that she actually likes. "Telepaths can't read me at all. I've had to learn how to build walls in my mind to corral all the people I've absorbed in the last ten years. They were strong enough to keep the most powerful telepath in the world out when he was still alive."

Gran steeled herself, taking a breath. She didn't want to have to ask this question of a clearly wounded young person but it needed to be asked.

"When you call yourself a killer…" Gran trailed off, seeing the bleak look in Rogue's deep brown eyes.

"I'm not exaggerating." Rogue said quietly as the others shift uncomfortably in their chairs. "I understand if you don't want me to stay, knowing that about me."

"Well," Jase looked her dead in the eye. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you kill?"

"Jason!" Sookie hissed at him in shock.

"What?" Jase frowned at his sister. "It makes a different to me. Killin' just to kill, just cuz you can is one thing. Killin' on accident or to defend yourself is something else again."

Rogue nodded at his words, agreeing. "I've known people who kill just to kill. I'm not one of them. But only one person was an accident. This woman found out about me, she was sick, dyin' of cancer. She was a mutant and didn't want to die so she decided she would try and use my power to take me over. Tried to kill mah mind." Rogue gave a bitter twist of her lips thinking of Carol Danvers, the first person she ever killed completely. She destroyed her mind using her own will and strength. And it changed her.

She shrugged, as if to say "I'm still here."

"Then it doesn't make a difference to us." Jason said simply. They might be good Christian people but there's a line. And since they don't know anything about her life before coming here they've got no place to judge her for what she did to survive.

"Well," Gran said, seeing that Rogue needed a moment to her thoughts. "It's late and we've got plenty of time now to talk and know each other."

"That we do." Rogue smiled. "I'll only be staying her for a little while Ms. Adele. Just until my place is ready."

"Which place is that?" Sookie asked, taking a break from trying to process someone wishing they could read minds like her instead of having the mutation Rogue does. She's always thought her skill was well, a disability. But now she's getting a new perspective on that with the inclusion of Rogue to her life.

Rogue laughed, remembering some of the gossip she overheard at the bar during Sookie's shift.

"I bought the old Compton place across the cemetery." She continued to laugh at the looks the Stackhouses gave her. "I decided a while back that if I ever wanted to come down here it would be nice to be close to y'all. Guess I've set everybody a-twitter haven't I?"

Gran joined her laughter, thinking about all the rumors that have swirled around Jesse's sale of his family home and land.


	5. Chapter 4

**Skin Deep**

_See Prologue for Disclaimer._

_A/N: To clarify – Logan was the only person who was there for Rogue following her absorbing Jean/Phoenix at Alcatraz with everyone else either being too scared or too busy following the Professor and Scott's deaths to pay attention to what Rogue was going through at the time. Remy and Logan are both her best-friends but Logan is a big-brother type and she didn't meet Remy until well after Alcatraz. I hope this clears up any confusion over differences between what's said in the prologue and in later chapters._

**Four**

The bright sunshine pierced Rogue's closed eyelids, forcing her awake long before she was ready to greet the day. After saying goodnight to the Stackhouses, Rogue stayed up for a couple hours, talking to her Psykes about what the Stackhouses had to say and how they took her mutation.

Remy's Psyke was far too interested in her sweet cousin Sookie than Rogue is entirely comfortable with, making her hope that the real Remy keeps his fine-behind in NOLA and out of Bon Temps.

Although with Sookie's telepathy the innocent blonde is less-than-likely to be interested in such a manwhore anyway since Remy's less-than-subtle conversation is undoubtedly echoed by less-than-pure thoughts.

Climbing to her feet Rogue stretches then sets about starting her day, showering, dressing, and braiding her hair before heading down to hunt up some breakfast.

Clad in some basic jeans, a nearly-see-through long-sleeved cotton top, wrist-length leather gloves, and her riding boots she grabs her jacket, carrying it down the stairs with her and setting it on top of her helmet in the hall before moving to the kitchen. She has plenty of errands to accomplish today before meeting up with Sookie and Jason to inspect the work being on her new home.

"Good morning, dear." Ms. Adele beamed at her house-guest. "Would you like me to make you something?" She asked from her place before the stove.

Taking in the sight of fresh-baked banana bread, hot coffee, and fresh orange juice sitting out on the table she politely declined.

"No thank you, Ms. Adele." She said sitting down at a place already set with the essentials and pouring herself some of the fragrant life-giving elixir that is coffee. "I'll just help myself to some of your amazing-smelling banana bread before I head out."

Smiling in acceptance, at least the dear is eating something, Adele turned back to her own bacon and eggs sizzling away in the pan.

"What do you have planned for your day?"

"Errands, mostly." Rogue shrugged, thinking. "I need to transfer some of my accounts to a local bank before picking up a few things to keep me going until I can move-in next door. Get my lay of the land, as it were. Then I thought I'd ask my cousins to go with me and check out how things are going at my place."

Adele nodded as she plated up her breakfast and sat down to join her guest at the table.

"That sounds like a full day. Make sure you stop and have some lunch, you hear?"

Grinning at the admonishment, Rogue agrees before they each focus for a time on the plates in front of them.

Seeing an opportunity to get to know her guest better, Adele makes an offer after taking a moment to think things over.

"I know Jesse let the grounds get rather wild these last few years." She said sadly, thinking of the formerly impressive gardens and lawn. "If you'd like I'll go over there with you young people and give you some advice on what could be reclaimed from the mess and where you'd be best to start over."

"I've had a lot of the mess cleared." Rogue mentions, taking a sip of her coffee as she thinks. "But I'd be glad to have your opinion, Ms. Adele. I didn't have the landscapers do anything besides clearing and cutting back so the grounds are basically a blank slate."

"Sounds like a plan." Adele smiles at the young lady as Marie rises and rinses out her cup and used dishes.

Looking around for a dish washer Rogue laughs then sets her used things down in the sink. Taking a better look around the place, she makes an offer that she's had brewing since seeing the place yesterday.

"You know, Ms. Adele." She said slowly, gauging her opponent. "I consider us family now."

"It's Gran, dear." Adele corrects. "If we're family then it's Gran."

"Gran." Rogue acquiesces. "And I'm Marie."

"Marie." She smiles and nods, happy to have that small matter settled.

"I've noticed some things, little things, that could use replacing or fixing altogether around the house. As you've probably guessed from my buying the Compton place I have some money. I would be glad to…"

Adele cuts her off.

"We do just fine, dear." She said firmly. "There's no need…"

"There's every need." Rogue cut her off in turn, fire in her eyes. "You don't have any idea what I've done for that money. What I've been through. If we're family, really family, then you'll accept my help in the spirit it was offered."

"We are family." Adele shakes her head, weakening. "It's just…"

"It's not charity." Rogue whispered, taking out her keys and moving towards the front door. "There's no charity when it's family. There's only love and looking out for each other when you're really family."

*x*x*x*x*x*

Rogue was well aware of the gossip she'd be walking into when she entered Merlotte's that afternoon after running around Bon Temps and learning the extended area under the guise of errands. Between her surprise arrival at the bar the night before, transferring approximately a quarter million dollars into her new account at the local bank, and her visit to the lawyer's office to sign some paperwork regarding the work on her house, she's given the locals plenty of things to talk about.

Taking a seat on the same barstool as the night before she nods to the bartender, this time a scruffy and scarred white guy that screams PTSD, and waits for the vultures to circle.

First was a rather pretty brunette named Dawn who took her order with no more than a surprised look for the resemblance between her and her cousin and the tight-lipped smile of a female who's spotted competition.

Beta females always know when an Alpha comes into the picture and they're rarely happy about it. Taking a quick and careful breath through her nose when the waitress comes back, Rogue realizes the reason for Dawn's instant dislike it two-fold: she's fucking Jason and there's a distinct smell of the undead surrounding her. She's a danger whore.

Well…like always does recognize like even if the "whore" portion of that doesn't apply to Rogue, "junkie" being more her style.

Only an idiot would think that she was born with those white streaks on her head and most see them as a warning label rather than a fashion statement.

The next information seeker came after she asked the bartender – Terry she found out – for a refill. A rather sweaty, husky man ambled over from his booth after putting away a cheeseburger and a rather large stack of fires.

"Hey," he grunted at her. "You the Stackhouses' cousin everybody keeps talkin' about?"

Casting her eyes up and down, she nodded slowly as she finished chew the bite of chicken-fried steak in her mouth.

"Good." He said. "You tell Jason Stackhouse that he needs to come see me, _Detective_ Belleflour, tomorrow after he gets off work."

"I'll do that." She said, eyes cold. She's heard the talk of a murdered woman all throughout the town. With Jase's rather varied record with women it's not really a surprise the police intend on questioning him. She's just glad that whoever this woman was that's been killed, Jase hasn't been involved with her too recently or they'd have hauled him straight in rather than waiting on him to come to them.

"Good." With a stern nod, the Detective put on his sunglasses and headed out the door.

After waiting a moment for the cop to be well and truly gone, Rogue glanced over at Terry and called out to him.

"Hey Terry!"

Looking up from his glass-polishing he started over to her.

"Wrap the rest of this up for me, will you?" She asked nicely, peeling off some bills from the cash roll she keeps in the inside pocket of her riding jacket. "I've got to get back to the Stackhouse place."


	6. Chapter 5

_**Skin Deep**_

_A/N: Sorry for the wait but I've been focusing on other projects this last week. Also, it's well established that Gambit's character is one of the few non-telepaths that has a natural immunity to telepathic powers as his biokinetic power creates a kind of force-field/white-noise that prevents him from being read._

_Disclaimer: See Chapter 1._

_**Five**_

_Dismounting her bike outside of the farmhouse, Rogue noted the shiny black truck belonging to her cousin Jason already parked outside._

_Good. That'll make things easier._

_Digging into her leather jacket pocket she takes out her smartphone, dialing the number she needed from memory._

"_Roguey! Ma chere, _tell Remy you decided to join de Guild."

Rogue could feel his smile through the phone.

"Sorry, Remy that's not why I called." She said regretfully. Then with a sigh that she has to do this already she continued. "I need a favor."

"_Bien sûr, ce peut Remy faire pour vous, ma chère?" (Of course, what can Remy do for you, dear?)_

"Thanks, Swamp Rat." She smiled at how easy he is with her. Others would have to beg and negociate and bribe the Prince of Thieves but for "his Roguey" and a few others he's the easiest person in the world to have dealings with. "I need to borrow Emile tomorrow and I need you here tonight. In fact I need you to leave for Bon Temps as soon as you hang up with me and have made the arrangements with Emile."

"What's wrong?" Dropping his feet from their position propped on the bar table before him, Remy sobers at the mention of the Guild's main defensive attorney in the southern states. Gripping the phone in a white-knuckled hand he stood and walked out of the dive, ignoring the startled looks all around him. "Are you ok, _ma chere?"_

"_I'm _fine, Remy." She said rubbing one hand anxiously along the side of her leather pants. "But my cousins might not be. Can you have Emile meet my cousin Jason outside the Bon Temps sheriff's office tomorrow at noon?"

"_Bien sûr, _Remy will take care of it. I'm at my car, where am I meeting you?"

"At my cousins' place here. I'll explain when you get here. And Remy…" She trailed off, staring at the serene picture of home her new family presented through the large picture window in the living room. "Hurry."

Secure in the knowledge that Remy will do as she asked in regards to the lawyer, Rogue took a deep breath and walked inside. One of these days she'd like to meet up with her kin and not have to have a serious discussion about possibly life-altering circumstances.

Oh, well. Maybe someday.

xXxXxXxXx

Sookie looked up with a smile from her sweet tea as Rogue walked into the house. The three of them in the living room had noticed her lingering outside on the phone and after exchanging looks waited patiently for her to join them, despite Jase being on pins-and-needles following a call from his boss letting him know to stop by and talk to the sheriff tomorrow. It seemed that his tomcattin' ways have caught up with him but not in a way anyone ever expected.

Rogue swept a glance over her new family: a calm-as-can-be Adele, nervous Sookie, and jumping-outta-his-skin Jason. Shaking her head she chuckled lightly.

"Calm down, Jase." She commanded, giving him a firm look. "Not one of us believes you had anything to do with that woman bein' dead. I know killers and you don' have it in ya."

"But the Sheriff," he started to speak his worry and fear being just about a living thing inside-a him.

"Doesn't have anything." She interrupted, ignoring the looks from the other women. "If he did you'd be gettin' interrogated right now, not waiting here for me to go take a look-see at my new house."

"There you see," Adele said smiling. "A voice of reason."

Rogue gave the elderly woman a fleeting smile before focusing back on her still-worried cousins.

"Don't worry about a thing." She said, putting down her helmet on the hall bench. "I've already arranged for a lawyer to meet you at the sheriff's office tomorrow at noon. His name is Emile Boudreaux and he works for a friend-a mine. He'll take care of this nonsense lickety-split."

Rushing to his feet, Jason ran over and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"Thanks, cuz."

"You just make sure you listen to Emile, you hear?" She whispered, giving him a squeeze. "He tells ya to shut it, you shut it. He says time to go, you go. Got it?"

"I will," he agreed nodding his head firmly as he stepped back from her. "Scout's honor I'll listen to everything he has to say."

"Good." She said giving him a look. "We'll talk more about it in a while. For now, lets go take a look at my house."

xXxXxXxXx

The three of them spent an enjoyable hour or so looking through the nearly-completed updated plantation home, most of the work almost finished with the exception of some cosmetic work in the upstairs rooms. The downstairs was ready for occupation but without a bedroom unless she wanted to bunk out in her study so she decided to wait to move in until the last bits of paint, plaster, and tile were wrapped up before taking up residence.

Gran loved the bright, sunny kitchen with it's top-of-the-line appliances in bright white and the sunshine-yellow paint and white granite countertops and flooring.

While still unfinished, Sookie was nearly in raptures over the library with the large fireplace and built-in cherry wood shelves that spanned from floor to ceiling along three walls and the cool slate-blue paint and curtains with the cherry hardwood floors. The warm room came second only to the massive master bath upstairs with the orgy-sized spa tub and six-head rain shower. Emerald-green tile was already laid and grouted but the white countertops and rain-forest wallpaper along with the lush indoor plants were yet to be added to Rogue's personal oasis.

Jason simply couldn't believe that she'd set aside an entire wall in her rec room for a wide-screen projector to watch hockey and football on, complete with comfy stadium-type cushioned recliners. When he found out about the teal-felted slate pool table he asked if he could move in.

All-in-all it was an enjoyable outing for them as a family with everyone giving input here and there. The only place they didn't venture in the house was the lower levels. And for good reason. While Rogue had the construction team pour a new foundation when they started the remodel, she left all of the work to be done below-ground for herself. Once she moved in she would be able to use her copied powers to do the work faster and quieter than a crew would have – and with absolute secrecy.

No one needed to know about the veritable fortress she was going to have under her house. Bad enough that people were going to know about the above-ground security. She didn't need rumors floating around Bon Temps about her being a paranoid drug dealer or some such thing.

Besides with Jean's telekinesis and Erik's metal-manipulation she could build the space station underground and nobody would ever be the wiser.

Before they finished the tour of the rec room, Rogue did manage to pull Jason aside without Sookie and Ms. Adele being any the wiser to find out just what he knew about the dead Ms. Pickens.

A discussion which led to Rogue learning two very interesting things: the newly deceased like to secretly film her sexual encounters without her partner's knowledge – the reason for Jason keeping well away from her once he found out, and that she had a taste for dangerous sex with the undead.

Looks like Rogue is going to go case a vampire bar later that night.

xXxXxXxXx

Sookie was rather surprised when as she was getting ready for her night's work several hours after everyone got back from Rogue's house to hear the roar of a powerful engine barreling up her pitted gravel drive.

A surprise that turned to shock once she opened the door after the owner of the car knocked loudly.

Two things shocked her about the friend Rogue told her to expect. The first was her cousin failed to tell her that the "friend" was of the male persuasion and _absolutely freaking gorgeous_. A charming, ruggedly handsome face partially hidden by his sunglasses, topped with a shaggy mane of chestnut hair was coupled with a long, lean body clad in tight, ripped jeans, combat boots, a t-shirt clinging to every luscious rippling muscle and a long leather duster in matte-black. _Excuse me while I drool_…she thought absently, taking in the picture.

The second was that Rogue's friend's mind was a complete blank. Only where Sookie couldn't read Rogue because it was like hitting a solid-steel wall, this man was more like a…humming she guessed. His mind was there but was totally surrounded in a blanket of soothing white-noise. Which holy-freakin'-Hannah only made him yummier.

Seeing her preoccupation with him – and thoroughly enjoying taking in the picture of this blonde Rogue-lookalike – Gambit gave her a wicked grin.

"_Bonsoir, belle." (Good evening, beautiful.) _His Cajun accent nearly buckling Sookie's knees. "Is Roguey here?" He asked politely.

"Yes," she said snapping herself out of her perusal with a blush. "She's upstairs, I'll go get her." Waving him inside she gave him a small, embarrassed smile over getting so caught up in looking at him.

"No need." Rogue said, carefully keeping her amusement at the scene out of her voice. She had a hunch after meeting her cousin that Remy would be like crack for Sookie, the sweet woman having never met a man she couldn't read before. Hell, she'd never met _anyone_ she couldn't read before meeting Rogue the night before. "I'm here."

Moving down the last couple stairs she gave Remy a quick hug before introducing the two.

"Sookie Stackhouse," she said waving one hand between the two. "This is my friend Gambit."

"Remy," he corrected, ignoring Rogue's surprise over him giving out his real name. "Remy LeBeau."

"A pleasure." Sookie said, still blushing lightly.

Reaching out Remy took one of her hands in his, pressing a firm kiss to the back and keeping it securely within his own.

"The pleasure is all Remy's, _ma belle."_ He said, continuing to stare at the blonde version of his best friend only feeling decidedly more-than-friendly thoughts.

Shaking her head at the byplay between the two and resolving to stay the fuck out of it, Rogue broke into their staring contest.

"I have somewhere I need to check out tonight." She said, the others finally noticing the short – very short – leather dress with stockings and high-leather boots she was wearing. Coupled with her leather jacket and riding gloves she was as covered as ever – except for the space between her neck and the upper curves of her breasts swelling above the low neckline of the dress.

Remy just raised a brow at the amount of skin she was showing. The second she took off her dress she'd be a one-woman weapon of mass destruction…or seduction depending on what her plans were.

Sookie on the other hand couldn't believe how scandalous her cousin looked in that dress. She couldn't imagine wearing something like _that_ in a million years.

"Remy," Rogue said shrugging into her leather jacket and holding out one hand. "I need to borrow your car while you stay glued to Sookie while she's at work. I can't be two places at once, unfortunately."

Remy just scowled then smiled when instead of just taking his keys she exchanged them for her own. "Be nice to my baby," Rogue said with a grin. "Besides I don't think my cousin has ever been on a motorcycle in her life."

Sookie just gulped at the matching mischeiveous grins from the two friends. This is going to be a long night.

"How long are you going to need eyes on your family, _chere?_" Remy asked, thinking he might need to bring in some more people.

Rogue thought a moment, deciding that while Jason could probably take care of himself, Adele and Sookie both would need someone around as a precaution for when Rogue couldn't be with them herself. Better safe than sorry.

"Call in whoever you think is best." She said at last, giving him the go-ahead. "No one from my old team." She gave him a look lest he call Logan. "But eyes on Mrs. Stackhouse and Sookie at all times unless you or I am with them."

"_Bien, ma chere. _Remy'll take care of it."

"Excuse me." Sookie broke in, crossing her arms over her chest with a scowl. "Don't _we_ get any say in the matter?"

"Are you a highly trained operative capable of protecting yourself from a murderer? Is your Gran?" Rogue asked patiently, one brow cocked up.

"No…" Sookie answered sighing.

"Then no." Rogue said firmly, walking out the door towards Remy's honey of a '69 Camaro, tossing the words over her shoulder. "You don't get any say in it."

Sookie just looked uncertainly at the tall man leaning against the wall in her Gran's foyer.

"Is she always like that?"

"Roguey?"

She nodded, waving him into the living room.

"Always." He said with a shrug and a half-smile. "But only when it comes to protecting the people she cares about. And that, _belle, _is one mighty-short list."

xXxXxXxXx

An hour later in Shreveport Rogue pulled the Camaro into the parking lot of what appeared to be just a normal mock-Goth bar. Nothing about it shouted "vampire" except maybe the sexy-assed cherry-red Porsche that is alone in a circle of light without another car within two spaces of it. Grinning to herself she pulls Gambit's black muscle car with its magenta pin striping up only one space from the Porsche. She's not sure if her primary power works against the undead since they're, you know, _dead _and don't have a life-force to absorb put her other powers will work against them just fine.

She's not afraid of a seven-foot permanently-PMSing kitty-Feral named Sabertooth let alone a bunch of bloodsuckers who've never made a wrong move against her – yet.

Stepping out of the car she fixed her just-below-her-ass skirt and touched up her hair and blood-red lipstick before moving over to the head of the not-moving line that wrapped around the corner of the building, like most hotspots on a Friday night. Throwing her shoulders and hair back she struts right up to the bouncer – likely a vampire with her milky-white skin – completely ignoring the indignant shouts from the line.

The blonde female vampire gave Rogue a once-over that nearly made her think she had x-ray vision the woman was studying her so closely.

Pam took in the white-striped wild red hair – natural not the work of dye based on the lack of chemical scent – and the utter confidence pouring from the human. Looking passed her, she spotted the black muscle car a mere _one_ space from Erik's baby that the blood-bag drove up in. Smiling slightly to herself – maybe her Master will share this one – she unhooked the velvet rope.

"Have fun." She murmured, waving one hand languidly as she motioned for a replacement to watch the door. Whatever is going to happen tonight, she wanted a front-row seat.

Rogue just arched a brow, amused at the transparent – to her – thoughts flashing in the vampire's cold eyes. Without using Jean's power she can't know for certain, but she rather thought the blonde had some amusement planned that would end up with Rogue as a main course. Too bad Rogue doesn't feel like being on the menu tonight.

Sashaying into the dimly lit club, her Logan-enhanced eyes having no problem seeing clearly – she took a moment to let her ears adjust to the din of the heavy-metal music and the cacophony of a myriad of voices. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the large throne set up front-and-center on the stage at the far end of the room. Its occupant was idly play with a smartphone in one large hand as he sprawled indolently, the picture of utter boredom. Dressed head-to-toe in all black: silk t-shirt, leather pants, and combat boots he had shimmering blonde hair that extended past his shoulders.

Rogue would bet Remy her bike vs. his Camaro that the man's – or rather vampire's – eyes are ice-blue. And based on the sheer mass of muscles and length of body…Rogue is betting on Viking, making him either really young or very old.

Smirking to herself, she takes in the cliché red-and-black décor, and the mass of humans and vampires mingling in various versions of the same. The vampires mostly only different in the class of clothing they wore: silk vs. synthetic, leather vs. pleather, etc. It was an example of what a rather stupid human would _think_ a vampire bar looked like.

Moving with lethal grace in her six-inch heels – a gift from both her absorbed abilities and years of combat training – she chose a pizza-sized small table localized between the stage and the dance floor that lets her put her back to the wall and eased her way onto the stool.

She'd barely sat down when a statuesque blonde that could've been a model with her perfect breasts and long legs, moved over to her table. Only the flash of yellow in her eyes giving her away.

xXxXxXxXx

Although he looked completely unaware of his surroundings, Erik Northman noticed the red-head with her strange stripes and glorious curves the second she strode into his domain. A creature that innately sensual would always garner his attention – it's whether she could keep it that remained to be seen. Watching her move across the crowded room was interesting to say the least. He hasn't seen a woman move like that – who wasn't a vampire – in centuries.

Not since the woman-warriors of his own time.

When she chose the least-vulnerable seat his interest was firmly engaged. Not only was she beautiful and sensual, she was a survivor. Another…creature…approached his prize. He can't say human since her – or its – smell wasn't strictly human. It was something else.

Pam moved to his side and began to speak only to close her mouth with a click at a look from him.

He wanted to hear what they say.

xXxXxXxXx

"Hello, Mystique." Rogue drawled, taking off her gloves an inch at a time in a wordless threat before shedding her leather jacket and laying it across the back of the chair.

The shapeshifter watched her with amused eyes. It wasn't like the young mutant across from her would be able to touch her before Mystique could get away. Her show was just a reminder. The Rogue might've been a scared child once but those days were long gone away. The Rogue before her now is a tried and true _killer_, both of their own kind and of humans.

"Rogue." The shapeshifter nodded her head cordially. "Erik sends his regards."

Rogue just lifted a brow at that. "I take it the two of you made up."

Mystique just gave a little chuckle, waving off the betrayal with a little smile.

"Years ago, all water under the bridge now as far as we're concerned. But _you_, now you I would think would be excellent at holding a grudge."

"Well," Rogue gave a baring of teeth that could almost pass as a smile. "It _is_ hard to forget the first time someone tries to kill you."

"Sadly," Mystique gave a sigh. "I would have to agree and if it were up to me I wouldn't be here dredging up old wounds…but you know how he is."

"Quite." Rogue bit out, readying to use her powers. The shapeshifter might've been too much for her once but no longer. "What are you doing here? What does he want?"

"Well…" Mystique drawled. "Some interesting news has come to his attention. News that the Rogue is no longer with Xavier's. That you're not with _anyone_ anymore. I'm simply here to offer you a…safe haven if you will. Should you decide to utilize it, that is."

"And utilize my skills on his behalf?" Rogue cocked a disbelieving brow. They really thought she would join the fucking Brotherhood that tried to kill her more times than she could count? Wow. Just wow.

xXxXxXxXx

"_Følger du noe av dette?" (Are you following any of this?) _Pam asked, somewhat confused by the conversation between the two women.

"_Noen." (Some.)_ Erik waved her off, irritated that his progeny was distracting him from eavesdropping. That the redhead that caught his eye has survived attempts on her life only makes him want her that much more.

xXxXxXxXx

Pinning Mystique in place using Jean's telekinesis, Rogue stood with a sigh know that what she's about to do is going to cause one big fucking mess for herself. Sadly while she could avoid it…she really doesn't want to. She'd rather get this confrontation over with here and now and deal with the vampiric fallout later than have to watch her back for the Brotherhood _again_ until Magneto found a new toy to play with.

"You know," she mused stroking one finger up Mystique's arm, ignoring the woman's struggles as black lines began to appear on her face. "Erik really should have sent someone else. He had to know that _you_ of all people are the dead last person to bring a message to me, _alone_. Which makes me think that you're not. Alone that is." Rogue watched as Mystique's eyes rolled back and she collapsed in a heap onto the table as she gazed on with pitiless eyes.

Catching the watchful gaze of the two vampires up on the stage – the only ones that seemed to notice the little drama going on – she shook her head minutely, receiving a short nod in return from the male. They'll stay out of it – for now.

Wordlessly she watched as three others slunk forward from their places hidden within the crowd, only one of them walking with the proud carriage of a leader. Smirking she lets one hand hover above the exposed skin on Mystique's now-blue shoulder.

"Ah ah." She tsked at Magneto's thunderous expression as he stopped a few feet away from the table. "That's close enough."

"My dear child." He said in his smooth voice, not one ounce of irritation overflowing into it. "It has been a long time."

"Not long enough." She tossed back, throwing her mane back over one shoulder with a flick of her hand. "It will never be long enough between us, Erik."

"As you say, my dear." Erik gave a short nod. "Are you planning on returning my protégé?"

"Of course, Erik." She said with a smile and a wave as she stepped back. "Take her. I have what I needed from her."

"What a magnificent creature you've become, child" He said with something like pride shining in his eyes. "I always knew you were meant for more than toiling away at that school."

"A goddess among ants?" She quoted his words to the Phoenix. "I'm not _her_, Erik. I'll never be her."

"Indeed, you're not." He nodded shortly, waving for Avalanche to pick up Mystique's limp body. "You are something far more wonderful than she ever could have been. A mere spark in the dark compared to your radiant sun, my child."

_He's right, my dear._ Her inner-Erik whispered. _You ARE magnificent._

_That's enough out of you. _ She said firmly closing that door. The last thing she needs right now is the two of them ganging up on her.

"Jean was a small woman, frightened of her own shadow and trying to be great. The Phoenix was nothing more than a child whose toys were taken away and threw a tantrum. I am neither of those things. I'm not someone or something you can control, Erik." She said with quiet finality. "You would do well to remember it and leave me in peace." She cocked her head to one side, placing one hand on her hip. "Or I shall be forced to take countermeasures."

"I believe we have an accord, my dear. Sad though I am to say it." Bowing from the waist he moved forward and wrapped her in a hug, kissing the crown of her head. "Be well."

Nodding, she watched as all but one of the group melted into the crowd and away from the bar. Sighing she picked up her jacket and gloves and put them back on before opening her arms for a hug.

Laughing lightly, she stroked one hand through his messy hair as he picked her up, not caring about the skin that remained uncovered.

"It's good to see you well, John." She whispered in his ear. "I bought a house in Bon Temps. You're welcome there anytime now that we're not on opposing sides."

Leaning back he grinned down into her beautiful eyes, giving her a quick kiss on her crimson mouth. "I'll take you up on that sometime."

"I'll look forward to it." She said giving him a grin in return and smudging the transferred lipstick before he batted her hand away.

"Leave it." He said laughing as he let go and turned away to rejoin his comrades. "You know how much street cred I'm going to get with those stiffs for daring to kiss the Rogue?"

Chuckling, she waved him away before shifting her eyes up to the throne and the still-watching vampire. No longer smiling she jerked her head towards the parking lot.

xXxXxXxXx

Giving Pam a look, Erik rose from his throne. If the strange but gorgeous woman preferred to talk outside, so be it. For all that she dropped the other woman with a touch – something he would _love_ to learn the secret of – she'd been remarkably cordial throughout that whole scene with those other strange humans.

He rather doubted he would be in any more danger than any of them were.

Although whether he's going to let that little fucker keep breathing after kissing the woman he's rapidly decided he wants for his own is another matter.

After making her way through the crowd, Rogue moved out into the parking lot, spying the tall _must be six-four at least _figure of Erik leaning against the passenger-side door of his Porsche facing the driver's side door of Remy's Camaro.

When she made her way over to him and propped herself against her friend's car in a stance mirroring Erik's own the words that came out of his beautiful mouth were not what she was expecting to say the least.

"That's a man's car." The words were almost a growl as Erik struggled to control his baser instincts now that he has her somewhat alone. The stench of a male in his prime coming from her vehicle isn't helping him in that regard.

"Really?" She said, folding her arms over her chest, unknowingly making her breasts plump up even further in the tight leather bodice. "What makes you say that?"

"I can smell it." He growled, ice-blue eyes glowing.

"Hmm." She hummed. A handy piece of information to have. Vampire senses must be on par or better than a Feral's then. "It belongs to a friend." She said as a peace-offering. "He let me borrow it for the night since this dress isn't motorcycle-friendly."

Erik almost came in his pants like a green-boy at that visual. The luscious woman crouched over a sport-cycle in nothing but that leather dress with nothing to block his view of her sweet spot between her legs…

Shaking it off, he attempted to control the hard-on that was currently causing him nothing but pain pressing insistently against the zipper of his leather pants.

"You brought trouble to my club." He said at last, tearing his eyes from her figure and focusing on her eyes. "Something I usually deal with swiftly."

"And without mercy?" She finished for him. "I'm not sure how effective vampires are against mutants but it would've been fun to watch…for me that is. I didn't bring them here, regardless. And I dealt with it either way."

Erik hummed under his breath. Mutants. That explains their strange scents.

"Then I take it you're a mutant as well since they came for you."

Rogue just rolled her eyes over the eavesdropping. People like herself and the Brotherhood tend to watch their word choices in public so no real harm was done but it still was irritating.

"I am."

"And a powerful one to drop that woman so quickly and hold the others off without any effort."

"That too."

"Will you tell me…?" He trailed off. Asking about talents is considered rude among vampires but he's not sure of the etiquette for mutants. Something he'll need to look into now that one has caught his interest.

"A word of advice." She said, nearly biting out the words. "Unless a mutant freely offers up what their particular mutation is, they're not likely to take kindly to prying. In fact should they take offense they're likely to retaliate rather violently."

"I see." He just nodded, accepting her word…for the moment. "Nonetheless, you were involved in a confrontation in my domain. That is something vampires tend to take offense to."

She merely studied him a moment before nodding.

"Fair enough." Taking out the keys to the car she opened the door. "I'll remember that."

Erik just watched her with an avid gaze as she stepped into the vehicle, barely blocking his eyes from seeing _everything_ with the door.

"Someone killed a, what do you call them," she thought for a moment, turning the key and letting the engine roar to life. "Oh yes, a _fangbanger_ last night in Bon Temps. I imagine that is also the sort of thing vampires would take offense to in their domains."

With a teasing smile she peeled out of the parking lot, shifting gears like a pro as Erik vamp-sped back into the bar.

Finding Pam feeding on one of the blood-bags in the office he sent the woman away as Pam wiped her mouth.

"Who do we have residing in Bon Temps?"

Pam thought a moment.

"Bill Compton recently relocated near there. We got his paperwork this morning."

"The Queen's procurer Compton?" Erik arched a brow. What the fuck would Compton or the Queen want in such a backwater little town. It better not be his little mutant or there's going to be a problem. "And he hasn't presented himself…" Erik hummed under his breath. "Get him on the phone." He ordered. "He's to present himself here tomorrow by midnight."

"What's going on?" Pam asked.

"I'm not sure yet." He murmured. "But you better believe I'm going to find out."


	7. Chapter 6

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: See Prologue_

_A/N: While this is a Sookie & Rogue A/U from here on out it's going to focus more on Rogue and less on Sookie probably running about twice as much Rogue as it will Sookie. I just find Rogue to be a more complex and interesting character to write than Sookie and I "know" her better since I've been reading/watching the X-Men comics/cartoons/movies since I was young._

_Also when Rogue talks about Sabertooth it's Leiv Shrieber's version from Origins, as in tall, blonde, sexy, and dangerous._

**Chapter Six**

Racing away from Fangtasia Rogue blows out a breath she's been holding since she saw that vampire under the parking lot lights. Sin hasn't looked _that_ damn good since she was introduced to dark chocolate covered strawberries by Remy. In the club she'd been too distracted by the Brotherhood to really…appreciate the temptation that is the big, blonde vampire.

Built _exactly_ the way she liked with ripped muscles and a long, lean frame he reminded her of a less Feral but no less dangerous Sabertooth, her former benchmark for a man too dangerous to touch but so yummy it might just be worth the pleasure he promises to risk it.

Of course if Rogue ever wanted to _act_ on her Victor-inspired fantasies Logan would've lost his shit in a massive way.

It was hard enough to wash off Victor's scent those few times she ran into him when she met up with John away from the Manor after he joined up with the Brotherhood. Thankfully he'd always restrained himself to a few smirks and playing with her hair, tucking her bangs back behind her ears with a claw, etc.

Shit.

Something else to be worried about.

She'd always thought in the back of her mind that the only thing that kept Victor from making a massive play for her over the years was the overt scent of Logan all over her from the hugs Wolverine would insist on before she left the school grounds. Always paternal in nature towards her it was just another way for him to protect her from any Ferals she came across. Now that she neither lives under Logan's protection or carries his tags…

Number Forty-One on the list of things to prep her rooms under her house for: withstanding an assault from an amorous Sabertooth.

Although…

Now that Logan is half a country away…

And she has a little bit of control over her powers…

And Victor is more resistant to her powers than most…

No.

There's some dares that aren't meant to be taken. And a one-night stand or even a weekend fling with Victor isn't worth the subsequent damage to her relationship with Logan when he finds out she banged his older brother. Even though he still doesn't know Victor's his brother…

Anyway…that's one clusterfuck she's keeping her cute little mutant ass out of.

Besides if a homicidal maniac is what she wants in her bed she has a feeling Mr. Tall-Blonde-And-Undead wouldn't mind finding himself there if the looks he kept shooting her were any indication.

Although whether vampires are immune to her powers is yet to be seen.

"_Here we are, born to be kings, we're the princes of the universe…"_

The riff from Queen's Highlander theme-song ripped through the rumbling quiet of the interior of the Camaro. Remy's ringtone coming from her smartphone, the Prince of Thieves finding it a "fitting tribute" to himself.

Turning it onto speaker Rogue answered.

"What's wrong?" Remy wasn't about to call her unless it was something important.

"_Un vampire a juste révélé au travail de Sookie." (A vampire just showed up at Sookie's work.)_

"Appearance?"

"_Taille moyenne, maigre, les cheveux bruns, les regards lisses, et du Sud. Robes comme quelqu'un avec de l'argent mais ne veulent pas connue." (Average height, lean, brown hair, smooth looks, and Southern. Dresses like someone with money but doesn't want it known.) _Remy's voice was pitched low to avoid detection from the vampire seated in Sookie's section, who started talking to some white trash shortly after arriving. Something about the creature rubbed him just plain wrong from his spot playing pool with Rogue's cousin Jason and his friends.

"Stranger?"

"_Oui."_

"Ok, keep an eye on him. I felt eyes on me last night when I left the bar with my cousins, it could've been him."

"_Bien sûr." (Of course.) _"See you soon, _cher._" He said knowingly as he heard the powerful engine roar on the other end of the phone as Rogue hung up.

"What was that about?" Jason asked as the big Cajun put away his phone. He didn't really care for how the mutant, guy, whatever looked at Sook but he was a friend of Marie's so he'd put up with him. And he dropped whatever he had goin' on just to help them out. That said a lot to the protective male.

"Was Roguey." Remy said with a grin at the group around the pool table. "Just checkin' in. She on her way here."

"Good." Jason grumbled. "I didn't like her goin' to that place on her own in the first place."

"Where'd that cousin of yours go, anyway?" Hoyt asked as the friends proved they were paying attention to the conversation.

Jason curbed his original answer at a sharp look from those eerie sunglasses-covered eyes. "Just to a bar she wanted to scope out in Shreveport."

"The Rogue isn't used to stayin' in one place too long, _compris?_" (Got it?) Remy said as he lined up a shot. "Heard 'bout a place, went right away to check it out. She like that."

"She seem a little, eh, wild." Rene mentioned as he took a deep pull of his beer thinking about the skin-tight riding leathers the little firebrand wore the night before.

Remy just laughed, keeping one eye on the vampire.

"_Wild_ don' even start to cover it."

As if to prove his point, Rogue chose that moment to blow through the doors into bar in all her short-skirted and tall-booted glory.

_If you haven't set tongues wagging yet, my dear. _Erik whispered in her mind. _This will certainly suffice._

_Good. _She whispered back to the amusement of the males crowding her mind. _Better they all learn sooner rather than later that I'm not gonna play by their small-minded rules and mores._

Much like her entrance the night before, Merlotte's went silent for a moment before sending up an even-louder clamor as the mix of old-timers and rednecks got a good look at her in all her bad-girl paraphernalia.

Taking a quick breath, Rogue sorted out the smell of the vampire from the rest of the scents crowding the bar: including one that reminded her of forests and wild things that seemed to perfume the air around Sookie's boss…but that was something to investigate later.

_That scent isn't new._ Wolvie whispered from his forest she made him in the back of her mind. _Traces all around town. Traces in the forest between our den and our temporary den._

_Was it around last night? _She thought back. _The parking lot, perhaps, when I felt something off?_

The Wolverine – as distinct a personality for Logan as Rogue's Psykes are for her – grumbled a moment. She could, and often did, do such tracking and scent trails on her own but when Wolvie is willing he's still much better at it than her even after the eight years he's been teaching her.

At last he came back with: _maybe. Too faint of a scent last night to tell._

She hummed in her mind in acknowledgement before asking what might seem like a random question to another but that Wolvie would understand perfectly.

_What do different vampires smell like to you? _She asked wanting to test if there's anything Wolverine could pick up that she could not.

_Cold. _Wolverine answered after a moment as she moved over casually to the bar and ordered a drink. _All o' 'em smell cold. And blood. But this one smells like…dirt and forest and chemicals. That other one you were near smelled like wind, and salt, and water._

_The sea. _She thought. _The other one smelled like the sea._

_Yeah._

Throwing a smile and a wave at Remy and the boys arrayed around the pool table, Rogue sat idly on the bar stool and kept a close eye on her cousin, feeling rather relieved that she only stopped over one night in New Orleans with Remy. God only knows what kinda trouble her cousins would've found if she got here any later.

"It's Rogue, right?" The shaggy bartender, _Sam_ she thought, asked politely as he worked at pulling pitchers of beer. He had a nice and mellow southern accent and was rather handsome but there was something about him – the wildness in his scent maybe – that made her watch him carefully.

Smiling politely she nodded in answer. "And you're Sam Merlotte, Sookie's boss-man." She flirted lightly with a look from under her lashes.

Sam grinned back in response. He hadn't gotten much chance to talk to the woman already being branded as "The Stackhouse's wild-child cousin" around town last night but she seemed more inclined to talking tonight. Plus it didn't hurt any that while she _looked_ almost identical to sweet-Sookie…she certainly didn't _act _the same. Dresses like the one she was wearing in all its short-and-skin-tight glory are a thing of beauty on a woman who could carry them off.

And little Miss Rogue certainly had the attitude for it.

"You just visitin' or you plannin' on stayin' a spell?" He asked after a moment, playing up to the eavesdroppers that were being rather conspicuous if the amused glance the redhead shot the rest of the bar was any indicator.

Even the vampire cozied up with the Rattrays seemed to be interested in her answer, something which pissed off Sam to no end. _No-good, filthy bloodsuckers._

Sookie winced lightly as Sam's loud thought came in clearly despite her shields. At least it gave her a moment of respite from the Rat's nasty thoughts.

"Well…" Rogue drawled giving Sam a long look. "Since I bought a house here, that would suggest that I'm planning on staying."

Sam felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. The Stackhouses didn't exactly have any money to speak of yet here's this cousin just casually mentioning relocating to Bon Temps and buying a house. The gossip mill is going to go nuts.

Sensing the direction of his thoughts Sookie gave Rogue a firm look.

"Just tell 'em." Sookie ordered, exasperated at the games her newest family member loved to play.

Laughing Rogue complied, to Remy's shock.

"I bought the place across the cemetery from Ms. Adele's."

"You mean the old Compton plantation?" Sam spluttered. Even run-down that place was worth upwards of a quarter-million with the land taken into account. And that doesn't even begin to factor in all the work and repairs on the place she's had done.

"I believe that's the name of the family that built it, yes." Rogue took a deep drink of her whisky as she watched the vampire suddenly rise from his position at one of Sookie's tables and move towards her.

"Excuse me." The vampire came to a halt just behind her and politely interjected.

Rogue just spun on her stool and raised a brow, keeping her satisfaction from showing on her face. She thought it would take much longer to gain the vampire's attention than that, one of the reasons she was being deliberately provocative.

"Might I borrow you for a word." The vampire extended one hand in a gentlemanly fashion. "My name is Bill Compton and I believe you bought my house."

_Well… _Sookie thought to herself, moving over to get a fresh round of drinks for Remy and the boys at the pool table. _That was unexpected._

xXxXxXxXx

Ignoring the incredulous looks – towards both of them – Rogue allowed the vampire to escort her outside where they might speak at least with the illusion of privacy as all eyes turned to the windows, hoping for some clue about their conversation.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there is a sudden exodus of smokers coming outside shortly." She observed with a laugh as she moved to lean against the hood of Remy's car, crossing her legs demurely at the ankles.

"Quite," Bill said with a nod. There was something strange about this woman. Strange enough that combined with her _owning his house_ he allowed himself to be distracted from his original mission that night.

"Well, Mr. Compton." She said with a languid wave of her head. "What do you wish to speak about?"

"You have me at a loss, I'm afraid." He said in his gentile voice. "I am unsure how to address you."

"Just Rogue is fine." She arched a brow. "Ms. Howlett is also acceptable." Thanks to Wolverine's excellent memory – something she still hasn't shared with Logan – and The Thieve's Guild's excellent forger. Somehow she thought he'd like that she chose him to fill in the "father" spot on her new birth certificate. Lord knows she still can't bring herself to use her actual father.

"Ms. Howlett." Bill nodded, comfortable with maintaining his appearance as a Southern Gentleman of old. "It appears you have somehow come to own my family home. When I made overtures regarding purchasing it back following my descendant's demise last year I was very firmly informed that it was owned by Creed Enterprises that Mr. Creed had no interest in discharging one of his acquisitions. Thus I am rather unsure how you came to be in possession of it."

"Ah." Rogue shrugged her shoulders and planted her feet firmly on the ground. "That. Well…" She trailed off studying him with a keen eye. "That was a necessary bit of subterfuge on my part. When my…guardian passed I was left with quite a diverse set of holdings in addition to a trust." Something that confused both her and the X-Men for years despite the explanation in the Professor's will regarding wanting her to be taken care of in the event that she's never able to rejoin society. "Until recently I wasn't sure if I was ever going to take up residence here, with my family. So I purchased the house using with the help of Mr. Creed as I own quite a bit of his company's stock." _And because Victor couldn't resist the opportunity to have even the smallest amount of leverage over me._

"Is the house signed over to your ownership now?" If so he will simply glamour her into signing it over to _him_

She watched him in amusement as signs of his impatience bled through into his gentlemanly manners. It's looking more and more like she's found the perfect guinea pig for testing her powers on the undead.

"Yes," she drawled. "It is."

Almost immediately she felt a pressure against her mind as the vampire held her gaze.

_He's trying some form of hypnosis on us._ The Phoenix hissed from within her cage. _Let me out to play with him._

_No. _Rogue commanded firmly, allowing herself to sway lightly on her high heels. _I want to see if my powers work on vampires. And _you_ are staying right where you are._

Ignoring the enraged-rattling of the Phoenix's cage, Rogue let her eyes flutter closed for a brief second as she seemingly tottered forward.

Reflexes springing into action, Bill leapt the few feet between them and caught the young woman before she could hit the ground, not noticing her now-bared hand coming to rest on the curve of his neck.

Rogue waited a long moment, expecting her mind to suddenly take on a rush of memories from a too-long life similar to when she absorbed Logan. Containing her excitement over her power's failure when her mind remained the same: no rush of energy, no new memories, no sudden influx of powers, Rogue regained her feet with the vampire's help.

Deciding a moment of truth wasn't out of the question she slipped her glove back on and squared her shoulders, throwing off the playful mask she wore for the benefit of the masses and letting her power and confidence shine through as she pushed the vampire away from her with one hand on his chest.

"I'm not sure what you thought to accomplish with your little hypnosis game," she said moving around him back toward the bar. "But such things don't work on me. Next time you might want to do a little research on your mark before making your move. Oh," she stopped, one hand on the door as Bill watched her with increasing incredulity. "And I'm not sure what your real game is here but you better believe me, I'll find out."

xXxXxXxXx

After giving Remy orders to stay on Sookie like white-on-rice, Rogue left the bar casting for any hint of the vampire Bill Compton lingering close-by.

Satisfied that he's taken her warning to heart, at least for the moment, she started up her borrowed car and headed back towards the Stackhouse place, thinking carefully on the three very different vampires she's met that night – only one of whom she has a name for.

Maybe it's all of her time living around predators and having a mess of people in her head, but she highly preferred the in-your-face threat of the big blonde from the bar to the smooth-and-polished manners of Mr. Compton. At least with a predator she knows what she's dealing with. Good manners can conceal all kinds of depravity and wrong-doing as her brushes with people like Magneto and Carol Danvers can attest.

She'd take on a Sabertooth any day over a Mystique.

Pulling up with pitted drive she parked the car and went inside, greeting Ms. Adele before moving to the stairs. Peeling herself out of the skin-tight dress and stockings, she showered before slipping into a pair of comfortable sweats and one of Victor's T-shirts. They may never be lovers but something about the lingering scent of him makes her feel safe and protected, just like his little brother but in a vastly different way. Plus Logan's wife-beater tank tops were down-right indecent on Rogue's lust body.

Sighing, Rogue snuggled into bed, wondering briefly what interesting things the dawn would bring before falling into dreams.


	8. Chapter 7

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine _

_A/N: I know in chapter five that I spelled Eric with a K and said that he drives a Porsche…my bad. The K thing is because of his "original" name from when he was a human Eiríkr…and the car thing was a mind blip…apologies._

**Seven**

The next morning Rogue stumbled down the stairs only to be confronted with the unexpected sight of Remy sprawled out on Ms. Adele's aged floral couch. The thief had shucked his leather trench coat, boots, and body armor but kept his telescoping adamantium staff on the floor beside him with several packs of playing cards arrayed on the side table near his head. Chuckling over the thought of waking the perennial night-owl before noon, Rogue crept over to the end of the couch, watching him for any signs of wakefulness as she went.

Before she could kick the sock-covered foot dangling over the arm of the couch, one of Remy's red-on-black eyes popped open to eye her balefully.

"Don' even t'ink 'bout it, _cher._" He warned. "Your lil' cuz didn't get off-a work 'til after two. Remy didn't get ta sleep until near-five."

Chuckling out loud as she made a show of glancing at the clock on the wall, she turned and headed towards the kitchen.

"It's after ten you complaining Cajun. I'll make the coffee." She called over her shoulder. "Where's Ms. Adele?"

Grumbling as his feet hit the floor he rubbed his hands over his face, trying to scrub away his tiredness. "Of wit' Remy's cousin Jean-Paul, _cher._ She said somethin' 'bout you settin' up an account for her to use for new t'ings around de house."

Rogue just smiled at that as she set about making coffee for the two of them and the soon-to-wake Sookie, based on the sounds she's picking up from upstairs. For once her money is doing some good for people she cares about instead of just herself and her "pet charities" as Logan calls them.

*l*l*l*l*

Hearing the sounds of life coming from downstairs Sookie groans, then hauls herself out of bed. She's finally getting that night off she's had coming for the last two weeks but hasn't been able to take for one reason after another. When the deep rumble of Remy's voice carried up to the top of the stairwell as Sookie started down after wrapping herself securely in her robe, she couldn't help but blush a little.

She'd never thought she'd wish for her curse to work on someone. Not until she met people that it was useless with. She's having to catch up with the rest of the world when it comes to reading regular old body language and subtext instead of just picking what people mean out of their minds…and it's driving her plumb crazy. Especially with Remy.

Not that she _wants_ to hear all the nasty things that goes through a man's mind…per se. She just wants to know if her instincts are right and he's actually interested in her or if he's just tryin' to be nice to his friend's weird country-cousin.

Her own thoughts came to a crashing halt as she ran smack into the object of her ruminations as she came cruising around the bottom of the stairs.

Remy just laughed, the impact having caused him no damage. Although he appreciated getting a personal brush with those curves of hers.

Sookie did not fare as well, bouncing off the solid planes of his chest and landing smack on her bottom on the old wood floor.

"Oof!" She gusted out a breath as she caught herself before her head hit the ground.

Grinning wickedly, Remy reached out one hand and helped her back up.

"Careful there, _belle._" He teased. "Remy wouldn't wanna hurt such a_ belle petite fille _on accident." (_Beautiful little girl._)

Scowling lightly she walked around him towards the coffee mug being held out towards her by an amused-looking Rogue.

"I'm not a girl." She said after taking a deep drink.

Tipping down the shades he donned after waking, Remy dragged his eyes up and down her robe-clad body, the light cotton doing little to shield her from his appreciative gaze.

"Believe Remy, the last way Remy t'inks about a _belle _like you is as a girl." He said, his red-on-black eyes sending shivers down Sookie's barely-awake spine.

"And on that note." Rogue sets down her mug with a click on the tile countertop. "Ah'm goin' over to my place to do check on things and get started on some of the work Ah'm goin' to be doin' on mah own. You kids behave yourselves."

With a glare at Remy, Rogue walked back up the stairs to get ready for a long day of working with her borrowed powers. After her run-ins with vampires and the Brotherhood the night before she can't have her secure rooms below her house finished fast enough to suit her.

*l*l*l*l*

Dressed comfortably in a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved cotton T-shirt, sans gloves for once, Rogue checked-in with the crews working on her house and sent them up to the upper floors to focus on her master suite bedroom and bathroom for the day, well away and out of hearing range of the work she'll be focusing on in the basement.

Walking down the stairs concealed behind one of the foyer closets, Rogue smiled as she saw the first of the many levels of security her new home had: a six-inch thick solid steel door with a fingerprint scanner and keypad for entry. Scanning herself in and entering her password she moved into the sub-basement. The other entry to this level is hidden in the original basement underneath the main stairwell but that one is concealed behind an iron-and-silver plated adamantium custom-made vault door that only herself and Magneto could move without the aid of heavy-equipment she installed herself on her last – secret – trip to Bon Temps a year ago. That "emergency-only" door is well-hidden itself behind a series of shelves and a false wall that at the moment contain a variety of Ms. Adele's preserves.

It isn't the same security as the Manor…but in some ways it might be better.

Cracking her knuckles, Rogue studied the variety of raw materials she's secreted in the sub-basement of her house over the three years that she's owned it – often without the now-late Mr. Jesse Compton even being aware that she was ever here. All around the cavernous sub-basement that sprawled in every direction except towards the cemetery, was concrete cinder-blocks, thin-but-enormously heavy sheets of adamantium that she brought up and re-shaped into a semi-usable form from under Alkali Lake, steel beams, and beautiful wood paneling to cover it all once she's finished with the structural work. All the wiring and plumbing was already roughed-in thanks to some of her contacts from the Thieves Guild.

Grinning at the thought of what she could create down here with nothing but raw materials and her powers, she waved a hand making the steel beams float in the air.

"Time to play."

*l*l*l*l*

Hours later, filthy and exhausted from working with her powers non-stop, Rogue felt a tingle at the edge of her mind. Normally the fraction of telepathic power she retained from Jean stayed dormant – unless someone is specifically trying to get her attention, usually by calling her name within her mental reach.

Staring around the rooms that she's sectioned off and started fleshing out so far: steel beam and cinder block walls that are layered and reinforced with adamantium, the concrete floor that she's finished with tile in the "wet" areas of the bathroom and kitchenette and the soft honey-colored pine in the rest of the place, she felt a sense of accomplishment. It's no-where near finished, she hasn't even begun to work on the wooden paneling or the security system that would control the automation on the house and grounds.

There is also a holding cell to complete and the egress-route to finalize.

Mainly because she has the Wolverine and Magneto living in her head and they're both paranoid assholes. But they do bring up good points considering as many times as people have gone after her for one reason or another.

Using her "main" entrance that leads up to the foyer, she crept back into her own house like a criminal, unsure about who is running around her home or why. The only people that should be here are the contractors upstairs and outside following some of Ms. Adele's suggestions regarding the grounds.

"Rogue?" Jason's voice came from outside, thankfully missing her little appearing-from-nowhere act. "You home, cuz?"

Glancing at the clock on her phone she saw that she'd been working downstairs for four hours…and since it was two-o'clock Jason's appointment at the Sheriff's Office has come and gone.

Walking outside she smiled at the handsome face of her cousin, a face that was a lot less worried than it was a day ago. A warmth spread inside her chest at the sight. She made that happen. Her connections – and willingness to use them – spared her cousin and as a result the rest of her family hardship. Maybe she can make this "normal" thing work after all.

"Hey Jason." She walked forward and being careful of her bare hands, gave him a quick hug. "How'd it go?"

"Great." He beamed a grin at her. "That lawyer friend of yours really knows his stuff. He had Andy spinning in circles and chasin' his tail. Said to call 'im if anything else came up but for now I'm free-and-clear."

"That's great, Jason." She smiled back at him, running the back of her hand over her clammy brow. Going from the cool-underground to the suffocating heat of a Louisiana spring wasn't being kind to her sweat-glands or her hair that threatened to spiral out of control.

"Yeah, it is." He ran one hand through his messy hair. "I just came to say thanks, is all. And thanks again for havin' your friends look out for my Gran and Sook. I know you just met us a little while ago but it means a whole lot, you havin' our backs like that."

Deciding she's done enough work for one day, Rogue threaded her arm through his, steering him back towards the farmhouse across the cemetery.

"I might've only met y'all a little while ago." She said, shooting him a look and a little grin. "But we've all been talkin' back and forth for years. Y'all are my family, all I've got left really. And family looks out for each other."

Shaking his head he asked her a question that's been buzzing at him all day.

"That the same argument you used to get Gran to accept your help with her house?"

Laughing she nodded as they came in sight of Sookie sunbathing on the front lawn while Remy pretended to snooze on the porch swing, watching the blonde's every move.

"Pretty much." She said, just as Ms. Adele called for them all to come and have some lemonade and a bite to eat.

*l*l*l*l*

Once Rogue refueled at Ms. Adele's insistence and showered off the evidence of her subterranean endeavors, redressing in her skin-tight leather pants and a red silk tank top, Rogue went in search of her cousin Sookie to ask a very important question.

Spying her back laying out in what was left of the day's sun, Rogue narrowed her eyes as she figured out the best course of attack. Remembering the pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge, Rogue grabbed a couple of glasses and arranged them on a tray along with the pitcher and a plate of yummy-looking sugar cookies, all the while pretending like Ms. Adele isn't watching her over the top of her book in total amusement. It never hurts to soften up the target.

Carrying her load outside she shooed Remy away to "go keep Ms. Adele company for a spell" then set down the tray beside her cousin's lounger, arranging herself on the grass beside her. Once she was certain they were alone and she had Sookie's attention she asked her very important question.

"Have you ever gotten laid?"

Sookie choked on the drink of sweet tea she just took from a glass on the tray as she felt her eyes bug out.

"What in tarnation kind of question is that?" She asked as she turned a million shades of red, twisting to make sure Remy wasn't around to witness her reaction to her cousin's prying.

Rogue shrugged. "I can smell it." She said, ignoring the outraged spluttering coming from the ladylike Sookie. "Plus I wanted see if I was really the last twenty-four year old virgin in the States."

"You mean you…?" Sookie trailed off quietly, still offended by the bluntness of the question but more comfortable with it now that she knows it's not just Rogue looking to poke fun. "I never would've thought…you're just so…"

The redhead shrugged, trying to act like it didn't matter one way or the other.

"My mutation." She said, keeping the pain of that reality to herself. "It kicked in with a vengeance when I was sixteen. Before last night I've only met two men that can tolerate my touch even slightly without me controlling it, well the slight control that I have which is never reliable. And one of those is like a father to me."

"It's sort of the same for me." Sookie offered tentatively. "I can hear every dirty little thought men have. It's just awful knowing that a guy is critiquing your body or thinking about what you'll be like in bed before you've even made it beyond the first date."

"I asked for a reason." Rogue said giving her a serious look from her deep-green eyes. "Not just to bond over our situations. But to discussion how that situation is changing."

"How do you mean?"

"Remy." Rogue answered simply. "You can't read him. I kinda thought after what Jason said about you reading minds and what little you've mentioned over the years that your telepathy was the reason behind your "untouched" state. But you can't read Remy."

"And you're worried I'm going to fall into bed with him?" Sookie asked, tipping down her sunglasses to shoot her cousin cool look. "I respect myself too much for that."

"That's good." Rogue shrugged. "I just wanted to talk to you a little about it. He doesn't have the best track record. In fact it pretty much sucks when it comes to women. I just don't want you getting hurt."

"I think you're underestimating him." Sookie said, gathering up her things to go inside. "But I'll take it under advisement."

"That's all I ask." The redhead picked up the tea tray and carried it inside, walking silently next to her cousin. _I just don't want either of you to get hurt. And Remy's softer at heart than he likes to make out._

*l*l*l*l*

Later that night Rogue was walking over to her bike, debating even wearing her helmet since it's more for looks than actually serving a purpose, when Remy cornered her.

"What did you tell her?" He demanded harshly, no trace of any accent in sight.

Rogue just traced her eyes over her obviously-pissed friend. Apparently Sookie was quick to repeat her warning to Remy or being the master of body-language the thief is he figured it out for himself, either was possible.

"The truth." She said after a long moment as she used her telekinesis to float her helmet back onto the porch. Her French braid will hold up well enough under the wind. "That she should be careful with you."

"What the fuck, Marie?" Remy threw up his hands in a purely Gallic gesture. "I thought we were friends."

"We are friends, _Gambit_." She said furiously, reminding them other of his less-than-genteel alter ego. "Best friends. And best friends look out for each other."

"Surely you're not suggesting," he bit out, red eyes enraged and dilated. "That warning off Sookie was _for my own good_?"

"Yes," she said placing her gloved hands on his chest and shoving him back a step. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Because now that I've said something _to the both of you_, you'll be more aware of each other's and your own feelings. The last thing I want is for either of you to get your hearts broken. Just," she threw out her hand in exasperation. "Be careful, dammit."

Cranking up the engine she shot him one last warning look before taking off down the drive, leaving Remy stewing in his own juices over what she had to say – and what it implied.

*l*l*l*l*

Half-an-hour later saw Rogue pulling back up to the Fangtasia parking lot for the second time in two days. Angry with how she handled the budding situation between her best-friend and her cousin, she covered the distance between Bon Temps and Shreveport in half the time it would normally take, getting there just after eleven at night. The same as the night before, a line wrapped around the corner of the squat building.

Spotting the same female vampire from the night before keeping watch over the line of hopefuls waiting for access, Rogue let her bike coast to a stop in the spot next to the boss-vamp's Corvette with a wicked grin and a wink towards the blonde that she knew the other female spotted due to the answering smirk on her face.

Swinging her leg over, she got off her bike and straightened her leather jacket and red-silk tank top before shaking her red hair out of its braid. Walking over to the door, she added a touch of deep-crimson gloss to her bare mouth to set off the smoky shadow still in place on her eyelids after her fast ride.

"Planning any trouble tonight, sweetheart?" Pam asked what she now knows is a mutant as the redhead strode right up to her, bold as brass.

"Hard to say." Rogue tossed her a faux-sweet smile. "The night's still young."

"That it is." Pam lifted the rope for the woman that she senses is a kindred-spirit. Troublemakers and rebels tend to gravitate towards each other in her experience.

Without another word, Rogue entered the shadowed bar, feeling a rush of excitement for something besides a fight for the first time in longer than she can remember. Maybe tonight she'll learn Mr. Tall-Blonde-and-Undead's name.

Inside the air-conditioned nightspot she sighed breathily in relief. She may be from Mississippi but she spend eight years living in Northern climes and this Louisiana humidity is killing her. Unless she felt like using Bobby's powers to self-regulate…but she's trying to hold out on that until summer and the weather gets truly unbearable. Once again ignoring the crowd but still staying aware of trouble, this time Rogue moved over to the bar and leaned indolently against the rail as she waited.

No more than a moment or two had passed before the tall Native-American bartender moved over in front of her to take her order.

"What can I get you?" Longshadow asked the interesting-smelling-and-dressed woman. Most humans who came here either looked like Goth-wannabes in pleather or tourists in baggy T-shirts. This one wore high-quality motorcycle gear, something he can appreciate in a meal. At an unobtrusive signal from Northman he focused his eyes squarely on the human's big green eyes. He's not about to get fucked-up by the Viking over a feed-and-fuck.

Seeing the perusal but missing the byplay, Rogue just arched a brow before asking for a bourbon-neat and after a glance at their beer list a Harps. Reaching toward her pocket when he brought over her drinks at vampire-speed, she paused at a gesture from the bartended.

"On the house." Longshadow said as the human went to pay. Seeing her look, he flicked his eyes towards the stage.

Rolling her own, Rogue just shook her head and gave him a rueful glance as she picked up her drinks. Holding her bourbon securely in one hand she let her beer bottle dangle between two fingers of the other as she glided through the crowd. As she moved, she spied a too-skinny woman in trashy pleather literally _crawl_ up the step of the stage. Coming to a stop she took a sip of her bourbon followed by a long pull from her Harps as she locked eyes with the vampire's icy-blue gaze.

Eric cocked his head a fraction as the mutant came to a stop just beyond the stage, hovering discretely off to one side as if getting ready to watch a show. He'd learned little about mutants since their meeting the night before and even less about this particular one. His day man hadn't been able to find anything on a woman of her description or going by the name Rogue except for a vague picture in an article dealing with the Liberty Island Attack.

After a thousand years there's nothing Eric likes more than a puzzle, something to relieve his gods-awful boredom that afflicts him on occasion.

One thing he has learned about mutants as a whole however: much like vampires there's an internal struggle within their community over integration with humans. A theme that he'd wager he'd find in any community outside of what humans consider "normal."

Feeling the blood-bag at his feet have the audacity to actually _touch _him without permission he booted it away as casually as he would kick a can out of his path. After a long look around, the mutant didn't even bat an eyelash over his action.

Without waiting for his summons, she simply walked up onto his stage and stage down regally in the lone "audience" chair flanking his throne, something anathema to his underlings as one vamp sped over to her and grabbed her by the shoulder, attempting to remove her.

Raising a brow, Rogue sighed and set her drinks down on the stage. _Territorial males. _She thought humorously. _Everywhere I go, territorial males._

_You do seem to gravitate towards them, sheila. _Psyke-John pointed out with a laugh. _Let's see there's Logan…_

_Victor, _Erik added joining the game.

_Gambit, _Logan growled over the reference to his brother.

_Bobby, _John tossed into the mix.

_Ok, ok. _She laughed with them. _I get it. Now go away while I kick some ass._

Reaching up in a motion almost too-quick for the now-surrounding vampires to see, Rogue grabbed hold of the wrist attached to the hand on her shoulder and _squeezed_ until she heard bones grind together and the vampire give a little gasp. Gliding to her feet she spun to face him, letting go of her hold on him in order to grab him by other shoulders. With an absent flex of will she lifted the slightly-built vampire and shoved him, tossing him back against the wall behind him.

Ignoring the growls following her little display of strength she turned back around and sat, picking up her undisturbed drinks and doing another round of sip-and-chase, staring at the watching vampire on his throne all the while.

"Perhaps." Eric said in a mocking voice that wasn't matched by his cold gaze. "Next time one of my underlings decides to assault one of my guests they should check with me _first._" The last word came out in a growl with a _click_ and a flash of fang.

All at once every vampire surrounding them, and blocking the view of events from the rest of the club, suddenly found other things to do…far away from the volatile female their sheriff is keeping company with.

"I am beginning to understand," Eric observed putting away his cell phone. "Why your…friends…last night were so cautious."

Rogue just toasted him with her Harps and took another long pull of the light Irish beer.

"And I am beginning to understand why everyone here gives you a wide berth." She said with a smirk.

"What brought you here to me tonight?" He asked after a moment of studying her. While he greatly enjoyed the tiny dress she wore the night before, something about the way she moves in her leather pants and jacket suggested an increased sense of security and comfort that was absent the night before.

"Here," she said with an idle wave at the crowd. "Curiosity. To you?" She arched a brow. "I was just going to thank you for the drink."

Tipping back her glass she finished the last of the bourbon with panache, leaning over to set the emptied glass on the stage as she chased it with her beer.

"I could assist you with relieving your curiosity if you will do the same for me." Eric said after watching the crowd with a bored aura for a moment. "My office?"

Sending him a look under her lashes she stood, setting down the empty beer bottle. "As long as you keep your fangs to yourself."

Restraining his desire to laugh at her quip, Eric schooled his face into his normal mien of stoicism as he offered her his hand and escorted her through the staring crowd.


	9. Chapter 8

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: Eric and Rogue fluffiness inside._

**Chapter Eight**

Ushering the delectable female into the confines of his office, Eric closed the door with a resounding _click_ of the lock.

Unphased by the vampire at her back, Rogue simply studied the simple office with its standard file cabinets, desk, office chairs, and couch. The only thing even slightly out of place was the huge executive leather office chair behind the desk, one clearly purchased with the comfort of the massive vampire himself in mind. Shooting the vampire leaning against the door and watching her out of those icy eyes and glance, Rogue propped one hip on the edge of his desk.

"So what should I call you?" She asked cheekily. "Or does Tall-Blonde-Vampire work for you?"

Quirking his mouth slightly at her humor, he moved around to his chair behind his desk as she spun, keeping him in sight at all times. Once seated he waved her regally towards one of the simple office chairs as he answered.

"Eric."

Shrugging to hide the tingles that his voice's faint hint of an accent sent down her spine, Rogue took off her jacket and gloves, setting them carefully in the chair beside her before sitting down and crossing her long legs in a feline movement. It's not like she needs to cover her skin around a vampire anyway, a freedom she could come to revel in with little-to-no effort.

"Not another one." She rolled her eyes thinking about Magneto. "I hope you're not a megalomaniac as well, or else I'm afraid we're doomed to dislike each other."

"I don't think I could ever dislike a creature as gorgeous as you," Eric answered her smoothly. "But no. I have many vices but that is not one."

"Thank god." Rogue mock-sighed. "I don't think I could've taken another one."

"And you're Rogue, correct?"

"Eavesdropping is very impolite." She narrowed her eyes at him, remembering her pique from the night before. "And unless I'm way off…a creature of your years should know better."

"My club, my rules." He said simply before giving in to his curiosity. "How old do you think I am?"

Willing to play – for the moment – Rogue walked him through her thought process watching him carefully for any tells while she was at it:

"Let's see." She began, ticking off points with her index finger. "You're named Eric, you have a slight accent that stays hidden most of the time, you have overtly Scandinavian features, your body is well-honed, and every other vampire out there," she gestured to the club. "Is wetting themselves at the thought of pissing you off. My money's on Viking which means anywhere from just under a thousand to fifteen hundred years old."

At her estimate – and her knowledge of when actual "Vikings" lived – Eric felt his eyebrows shoot up. Focusing on the mischief dancing in her eyes, _where can I find emeralds that same color,_ he let himself unwind enough to laugh.

"That's pretty good." He said with a half-smile.

"Well, in all fairness I wasn't that sure about it until seeing how those other vampires reacted to you." She admitted. "With your looks and general build it was a toss-up between Ancient-Viking and Young-Bodybuilder."

"Good call." Is all he said, not telling her exactly how good it was or how close.

"The "other Erik" you mentioned." He focused on the overt purpose of their conversation – information exchange. "That was the elderly mutant from last night?"

Rogue chuckled at her inner-Erik's reaction to being dubbed "elderly."

"Yes." She said with a short nod.

"And he tried to kill you at one point."

"Yes." She scowled.

"But you didn't flick him off like a bug or knock him unconscious." Eric observed, thinking that getting information from her is like pulling teeth. For a moment he considered glamouring her…but he preferred an honest seduction. Glamour just took all the fun out of the hunt, the chase, for him.

Sighing she leaned back in the chair. "No. I didn't."

"Why?" Eric was truly baffled at her restraint. It clearly didn't have anything to do with her being unwilling to make a scene as her early actions – and one embarrassed vampire – could attest.

"That's a whole new world of complicated." She said, voice weary. "Short answer: I didn't want to force a friend of mine to defend him. Complicated answer? I know him too well to want him dead. He's a blind ass a lot of the time but the world would be poorer without him." Sitting straight up she stared into Eric's eyes. "I could kill him at any moment, any time we come face-to-face. But I could never bring him back."

Eric mulled that over for a moment, finding it rather telling regarding both her moral code and her thought process. She has no problem with death and destruction but is very calculating and highly logical while still somehow retaining empathy. A magnificent creature indeed.

When he opened his mouth to ask her another question she held up one hand, stopping him with the imperious gesture.

"Ah ah." She said pointedly. "You asked me a question, several in fact. My turn."

Leaning his jaw on one hand, Eric waved her on. After that little peek into her brain she deserved a turn.

"Can vampires hypnotize humans?" Rogue decided against pulling any punches, just in case Eric's sense of fair-play decides to take a vacation.

Frowning now, Eric sat up straight in his chair.

"Did one of my people do something to you?" He demanded, already thinking of the punishment he would dish out.

"No." She answered him straight-forwardly. "And I'm not sure if he was "one of your people", I didn't run into him at your bar."

"I'm the vampire Sheriff of Area 5, my territory includes Renard Parish." Eric said. "So if you ran into this vampire anywhere between here and your home in Bon Temps he's either one of my underlings or he's breaking the law by not presenting himself to me."

"Sheriff?" Rogue cocked her head to one side.

"A kind of enforcer. I keep things running in my area and make sure our laws get followed and punish those who break them. I can also set down other edicts as I see fit as long as they don't conflict with those that come from higher up." Eric explained impatiently. "The vampire?"

"Was at the bar in Bon Temps." Rogue answered him at last, her own curiosity placated somewhat. "When he found out I bought his family home – a plantation house going back to before the Civil War – he tried some sort of hypnosis on me."

"I take it the glamour didn't work?" Eric half-asked, half-stated.

"Glamour," she hummed under her breath, glad to have a name for it when she talked to Remy and the others. "No. My mind is basically impenetrable. I only felt a minor buzzing that let me know he was trying something."

"Basically impenetrable?" Eric raised a brow at that. "Experience speaking?"

She chuckled a little. "Telepathy is fairly common among the mutant population even if it's still rare in the rest of the world. I spent a couple years having daily contact with a man who was thought to be the greatest telepath to ever live. He couldn't get into my head, let alone some vampire with a Rhett Butler-complex."

The comparison coupled with the reason behind his next meeting rang a bell in Eric's mind. Controlling his instinct to tear the other male limb from limb – Eric hasn't formally claimed his Rogue after all – he asked the pertinent question.

"What was the vampire's name?"

"A Mr. Bill Compton." Rogue sat forward, leaning her arms against his chest and making her breasts push insistently against the silk of her tank top much to Eric's enjoyment.

"Any idea what he hoped to accomplish?" Eric asked semi-idly, having a ghost of an idea already.

"He probably wanted me to sell him back his family home." She said with a little chuckle. "Since he failed to buy it back from the friend that was holding onto it for me. Could he have done it? Is glamouring that powerful?"

Eric grinned wickedly, sensing an opportunity to gain knowledge of a more personal nature.

"That's sensitive information." He answered, smirking. "What do you have in exchange?"

Rogue nearly purred at the challenge.

"Well now…" She drawled coming to her feet in a sensuous movement, stalking around his desk. "What will you take for it?"

As she came to a stop in front of his sprawled-out position in his chair, he reached up and placed his hands firmly on her silk-and-leather clad hips, thumbs finding and stroking lightly where the silk and leather part, giving him access to her satin skin.

"A secret for a secret." He shot her a burning look from his Viking eyes. "Agreed?"

Letting her mouth curve in a wicked grin to match his own she nodded only to be pulled down to straddle his lap in a smooth motion, giving credence to the strength his build implied.

"How is a woman that looks, moves, and talks like you still pure?" He breathed huskily in her ear, his conqueror's instincts running amok at the body-innocence he'd found hidden in her spicy-sweet-tart scent.

Closing her eyes a moment she just let herself enjoy the contact before leaning back to rest on her heels instead of leaning against his chest. Staring into his no-longer-cold eyes she answered honestly, knowing he's going to learn more than she'd prefer from it.

"My mutation is unique." She began reprising information she's discussed over and over again since manifesting. "I absorb a person's life-force with the barest of touches. Memories, thoughts, wishes, even their lives can all become mine. Just from a touch. One kiss from me left a boy in a coma when I was sixteen. After that," she shrugged. "I only ever met two people who could withstand it for any length of time. But vampires don't have a life-force to absorb…per se. Y'all are some kinda blood magic that negates a lot of mutant powers I would guess."

"Like yours?"

"Sugar, there's no one else like me." She laughed, tossing her hair. "Believe me, word would reach me in a hot minute if there was. But since glamour didn't work on me…" Rogue trailed off thinking furiously. "Mental powers like telepathy or mind control wouldn't work on y'all…since you don't have brainwaves."

That sounded like a logical conclusion to Eric. "Any others you can think of?"

"I know a minor empath that might have issues but emotions are emotions so maybe not." She shrugged. "There's at least one precog running around but whether y'all factor into Destiny's visions I have no clue and I don't ever plan on runnin' into her and askin' either. But anything physical would still work…like I already proved earlier."

"Hmm." He hummed at the reminder of her show of strength. No need to hold back in bed with her. She's definitely strong enough to give as good as she gets. "Two people who could withstand your touch, were they both females or just idiots?"

She chuckled at a sudden flash she got of Logan in drag.

"Males." She said, still chuckling. "Definitely male. But one is like a father to me and the other is the first's older brother and semi-arch-nemesis. Despite being tempted and him offering on more than one occasion I've never been willing to open up that can of worms."

"Their loss." Eric growled low under his breath, caressing the skin at the nape of her neck in one large hand. Glancing at the clock he realized Compton would be there any minute and he still needed to answer her question and warn her before Compton arrived.

"Glamour's control is complete." He said simply. "A human under glamour will do any-and-everything the vampire commands. Even to the point of death. With your permission I'd like to attempt a glamour on you later so we can discover if you're truly immune or if Compton was simply incompetent. And if you are immune I haven't a clue if it would be due to your "impenetrable" mind or that you're a mutant."

"As long as I don't wind up your sex slave for the next six months, I'm game." She teased him, rocking forward a little with her hips and bumping into the steel-pipe that he's trying to pass off as an erection. _Sweet baby Jesus is he packin'_. She laughed to herself at the moans and "eewww"s from her mental guests sang through her mind.

Having a sudden thought she focused inward for a moment, not catching the sharp eyes that watched as her green eyes faded and glazed while she did so.

_Ok guys. _She said firmly. _If y'all wanna mingle with each other and treat my life like a soap opera that's one thing…but if at any point nudity or any material of the R-to-X rated variety comes into play…y'all either need to take a vow of silence or go back to your rooms because I. Do. Not. Wanna. Hear. About. It. Ever. Are we clear?_

_Aw, come on. _Not surprisingly John was the only protestor although she was sure Remy was tempted to speak up as well. _Not even cracks about his size if it's under-whelming?_

_If I make a joke about something like that directed at you guys, you can comment. _She decided after a moment. _Otherwise…vows of silence if you're going to be peeping-toms._

Tuning back into Eric she saw the assessing look on his face. Knowing he'd ask sooner or later if he wants more information she simple says "setting some ground rules" and leaves it at that.

Filing that away for later, he shook his head, running his hands up and down her sides and brushing her silk covered breasts with his thumbs.

"My next meeting should be here any moment." Is all he said. "And you'll never guess who it is."

With a mischievous smirk she flipped herself on his lap, throwing both of her legs over his so she was sitting crossways on his thighs with her back resting against one of his muscle-packed arms.

"Please tell me it's Compton." She said with a laugh. "Because his scent is all over Bon Temps and I can't for the life of me figure out what he's up to."

Eric raised a brow at that. "How many mutations do you have, lover?" He asked, voice only half-joking.

"A lady never tells," she whispered, leaning in close as she caught the sound of footsteps coming near the locked-office door. "And I'm not your lover."

"Not yet." Eric whispered back with a nip to her ear as someone he knew was Pam knocked on the door.

"Master?" Pam spoke before Rogue could verbally respond. "Compton has arrived."

With a look at the clock, he raised a brow. Five minutes late. Of all the petty bullshit…

"Unlock the door and send him in." He ordered, ignoring Rogue's raised brows at the "Master" title. "And you may join us, Pam."


	10. Chapter 9

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: You all can thank my insomnia and my husband going to visit his family for the back-to-back-to-back updates. You're all very welcome _

**Chapter Nine**

Feeling mischievous, Rogue buried her face in the curve made by Eric's neck and shoulder, effectively hiding her features and most of her signature white stripes from the two vampires entering Eric's office. Taking a deep breath she isolated the scents, unsurprised that "Pam" was the blonde female that watched the line at the club door and rather nauseated that Compton had added an overlay of fresh blood and sex to his scent since their encounter the previous evening. Trying in vain to get that smell out of her head she snuggled further into Eric's strong arms, smiling a little to herself when those arms closed more firmly about her after her wiggling around on his lap.

Swallowing an immature giggle, she mock-nipped lightly at his neck causing him to growl low and shift his increasingly hard erection against her ass.

Bill just huffed in disdain when he got sight of Northman's latest feed-and-fuck that was still sprawled across his lap.

"Would you send that creature away?" He sneered, missing the byplay between the two behind the desk. Pam just rolled her eyes at his stupidity and leaned against the wall behind the southern vampire.

Pinning Compton in his seat with his piercing gaze, Eric just gave a snarl at the disrespect shown him by the inferior vampire although none of his irritation came through in his pleasant if icy voice.

"Excuse me? Would you like to repeat that?"

Grinding his teeth Bill caved to the Viking brute. "Would you send your companion away, _Sheriff_?"

"Now why would he need to do a thing like that?" Rogue asked in her innocent-southern-belle voice, turning to face the vampire.

Swallowing his gasp, Bill just stared at her with a shocked look upon his face making Eric and Pam share an amused glance. He's obviously spent too much time getting his ass kissed in Sophie-Anne's court if he's giving away his thoughts like this. Sloppy, very sloppy.

"Vampire business is just that: _vampire _business." He answered her after a long moment where it became clear neither of the older vampires was inclined to do so. "We don't discuss our dealings in front of mere _humans_."

Pam just gave a short chuckle. "Really, Bill?" She laughed. "You still haven't caught on?"

"My Rogue is no more a _mere human_ than anyone else in this room." Eric said quietly. "Now that your idiotic grandstanding is finished." Eric gave him a firm look. "Let's discuss what you're doing in my territory without presenting yourself to me _first_."

Bill squirmed a little under the ancient vampire's stony gaze. He was supposed to be in and out of Bon Temps without anyone ever being the wiser. Instead he's getting called on the carpet for a serious breach of etiquette by Northman. In front of the brute's _pet_ no less. It was intolerable.

"My plans hadn't been finalized yet." He spoke after a moment. "I've decided to mainstream however I was planning on reclaiming my family home, something which has been made very clear is impossible. As a result I've been searching for an acceptable alternative in or near the community my family helped found."

Pam and Eric shared a wordless look. Bill Compton? _Mainstreaming_? Yeah. Okay. Let's go with that. It's not suspicious _at all._

"Your plans are irrelevant." Eric said dismissively. "All vampires new to an area must present themselves and apply for residency or visiting rights within twenty-four hours, Compton. You're no newborn, you are fully aware of our ways. Which makes me suspect you think you're somehow above them." _Above me._ Eric's tone said as he leaned forward, one arm wrapped possessively around Rogue.

Bill thought for a moment about dropping Sophie-Anne's name but decided against it. The Northman has never been known for giving a fuck about any authority but his own and that of his Maker's bloodline.

Signing off on Compton's transfer paperwork with a flourish, Eric tossed it on the out-box on one corner of his desk before plucking another form from another pile and filling it out at vamp speed, working around the bundle he held secure on his lap all the while.

"You are hereby ordered to present yourself at Fangtasia for five hours a week for the next three months." Eric just gave Compton a firm look from under an arched brow when the much-younger vampire spluttered in protest. "Since your offense was me as Sheriff and not against vampiric law as a whole I am within my rights to sentence you thusly. Of course I could refer you to Magnus…if you prefer?"

Blanching at the mention of the Magister, Bill raised his hands in a placating gesture then signed obediently on the sentencing form where Eric indicated. It wasn't his first time being sanctioned for some minor slight or another but it is his first time being punished so unusually. Most Sheriffs or monarchs preferring cash or blood to demeaning tasks like entertaining the hordes at Northman's bar.

Giving Rogue a pleased nuzzle at her silence as he carried out his business, he stopped Compton with a word when he moved to leave the office.

"Bill." Eric turned his head to watch the vampire's reactions. "What do you know about this fangbanger murder in the midst of your new community?"

"Fangbanger murder?" Bill arched a brow. "Surely you're not suggesting I…?"

"No, not at all." Pam said sarcastically. "It's not as if you have a taste for killing women you're fucking."

"Pamela." Eric shot her a silencing look.

"It wasn't a vampire." Rogue spoke up, crossing her legs in an indolent manner. "The victim's fang marks were days old. She was strangled and raped in her home in the midst of some more…" Rogue made a little moue with her lush mouth. "Risqué activities. I suppose the question would be has there been any outbreaks of anti-vampire sentiment in Bon Temps or the outlaying area that Mr. Compton has noticed."

"Not a _mere human_ indeed, Ms. Howlett." Bill locked his gaze onto her intelligent – and piercing – green eyes. The leather and silk was as much a costume concealing her true worth as his own suit served to hide the monster from the prey. "The answer would be no." He thought a moment. "I haven't exactly been overly social since coming to the area but I haven't noticed anything unusual."

"Very well," Eric dismissed him with a wave. "But with this unfortunate event coming so swiftly on the heels of your arrival in town, some precautions are your end would be in order."

With an acknowledging nod, Bill let himself out of the office with Pam dogging his heels all the way out of the club.

*l*l*l*l*

Back in the office, Rogue jumped up from her spot on Eric's lap and gave a languid stretch. Dealing with assholes tends to make her muscles just tense right up.

Leaning back and propping herself against Eric's desk Rogue folded her arms and arched a brow.

"_Your_ Rogue?"

Rising from his chair, Eric crowed her planting his hands on the desk behind her, getting into her space until a few short inches are all that separates their two bodies. He knew she was going to get after him for that but at least she had the sense to wait until after the other vampires left them alone.

"Vampires aren't the nearly benign Nan Flanagan and the AVL tries to sell to the general public." He said bluntly, surrounding her with his much-larger frame, leaning down so his mouth was right next to her ear. "We're violent, possessive, and greedy. But because we're violent, possessive, and greedy we also protect what's ours."

Rogue turned that over in her mind for a moment, not finding it that different than the territorial behaviors of Logan and Victor.

"So by calling me "yours" you're in essence warning off all other vampires."

_Great. _She mused. _I'm now the proud owner of an invisible "keep off the mutant" sign._

_You could do worse, my dear. _Erik stated. _At least this vampire seems to have quite a bit of power among his own kind._

_Extra protection ain't a bad thing, kid. _Logan agreed however uneasily with Erik for once. _None-a us know anything about vamps except for rumors, what the TV tells us, and what you've seen for yourself or been told by this Eric character. Without your primary power…_

_I'm more vulnerable with vampires than I have been in eight years. _She finished for him.

"In essence although it's much more…involved than that." Whispering in her ear, Eric takes his hands from the desk and runs them up her thighs before gripping her behind her knees and lifting her easily until she was sitting on the hardwood top with him firmly tucked between her spread legs.

Rogue's long-suppressed libido gave a delighted purr as her inner-hussy shouted for joy. Slapping one hand against his built-chest she leaned back keeping him from swooping down for a kiss to the disappointment of her inner desires. There's still way too much she doesn't know about being "his" that she wants cleared up before this goes any further.

"How involved?" Her no-nonsense tone was belied by the burgeoning desire Eric could see in her eyes and smell in her scent.

Stroking his hands all over the length of her legs he answered her, deciding to play along with her demands…for the moment.

"Anyone laying a hand or a fang on you would be subject to retaliation." He began, toying with one of her white stripes. "At the same time you're considered to belong to me so I could be punished for your transgressions. You also would have to be seen to at least pretend to obey my orders." He knew that one would be tough for her to swallow and he was right if the irritation starting to edge out the desire in her eyes was any indication.

"What else?" She gritted out between her teeth. Obey orders her ass. The Rogue doesn't obey anyone but herself and occasionally Wolverine as the X-Men grew to learn…the hard way.

"It's expected that a vampire's human, or in your case mutant, would provide for certain…needs."

"Let me guess," she arched a brow. "Feeding and fucking?"

Eric just gave her a smirk in answer.

"I'm assuming since you said hand or fang that I'm supposed to be completely monogamous to you." The irritation that started in her eyes bled out into her voice.

"I would kill anyone that touched you." Eric growled, his inner bloodlust coming to the fore at the thought.

"And you?" She asked the one question that she knew had the potential to cool off his pursuit of her. "Would you be monogamous or is that only the expectation of the _mere human_?"

Rearing backwards to look fully at the woman splayed out so nicely before him, Eric saw at once that she was deadly serious in her question. _Monogamous?_ He's never been monogamous, not even during his human lifetime. Who the fuck does she think she is?

His thoughts must have shown on his face because she gave a bitter laugh before scissoring her legs and kicking him backwards into his chair.

"Yeah." She gave him a derogatory leer as he placed his hands on the armrests, preparing to spring at her. "That's about what I figured." With a flick of her wrist she pinned him to his seat and strode out of the office, heading out of the club through the back entrance she noticed upon entering the hallway earlier. That little trick of hers wouldn't keep him there for long.

Using a burst of speed from Logan, she made it to her bike and had it started before he reached the still-closing door. Twisting the handle with an arch of her brow she sent him a wordless dare, then peeled out of the parking lot.

Vamp speeding to his Corvette he followed her, enraged at the overt proof she just gave him of her uncontrollability. Having such a powerful, stunning creature on his arm and in his bed is worth quite a bit of effort…but…

Monogamy?

Is he even capable of such a thing?

The blue BMW motorcycle and the cherry-red Corvette made one hell of a spectacle as they sped through the night, weaving in and out of traffic before hitting the mostly-empty parish roads. Letting the rush of adrenaline cause by the chase and the high speeds cool her red-head's temper, Rogue led him on a merry chase, all the way back to her freshly-paved driveway in Bon Temps.

Alerted to her arrival – with company no less – by the roar of the engines, Remy sat propped on the front porch rail, idly flicking through a deck of cards. Catching sight of the honey of a car that followed his _chere_ home, and the blonde driver, he tipped down his shades and called out to her as she cut the engine.

"_Se faire de nouveaux amis, ma chère?" (Making new friends, my dear?)_

Rogue just snorted at that. "More like a pest that won't leave me alone." She said flicking a glance at Eric who slowly followed her, taking in every inch of the exterior of the house and the grounds…as well as the man camped out on her porch. The same man that's stench covered the car she drove the night before.

"_Remy est bon à exterminer les ravageurs pour ses dames. Vous voulez Remy pour prendre soin de celui-ci?" (Remy's good at exterminating pests for his ladies. You want Remy to take care of this one?)_

Eric just snorted at the threat. _"J'aimerais vous voir essayer." (I'd like to see you try.) _He said in his fluent French.

Grinning at the challenge, Remy held a card up between two fingers and charged it letting it glow magenta in the dark night.

"No." Rogue said with a firm look at her friend. "No blowing up vampires on my property."

"But, _cher_." Remy joked as he threw the card up in the air and let it explode with a pop. "Remy'd clean up the mess. _Promettre." (Promise.)_

"And you," she gave a now-wary Eric a scathing glance. "Another word of advice: male mutants are often phenomenally stupid when it comes to taking dares. Don't throw a challenge like that out there without knowing what class and type of mutation the brainless-idiot in question has."

Hopping up the steps she pulled Remy down from his seat and pushed him towards the farmhouse across the cemetery.

"Unless you have some reason to be here besides getting on my last Confederate-nerve, go away."

"Remy was just lookin' out for his favorite _cher_." He said with a mock-injured look at his best-friend having extracted at least some payback for her earlier meddling. "An' ya abuse Remy like dis." He shook his head sadly as he started back towards the Stackhouse place.

"If I'm your favorite, what's Sookie?" She asked as he turned away.

"Roguey is Remy's favorite _cher._" He corrected her with a grin. "Sookie now…she's Remy's _belle._"

Rolling her eyes as Eric moved up beside her, Rogue just laughed at Remy's antics. Even if he eventually married and settled down, the Cajun Charmer will never truly change. He'd just focus all his attention on _one_ woman instead of _all _women. Although she still doubts she'll ever see that day come.

"The friend with the Camaro?" Eric asked, arching a brow after the Cajun was out of sight.

"Hmm." Rogue just hummed in agreement as she accepted the gloves and jacket he offered in one hand, having forgotten them in his office in her rush to leave.

"How many more "phenomenally stupid" friends do you have that I'll have to watch for?" He asked, leaning against the porch column.

"You say that like you'll be around me to meet them." She commented drily, moving over to the door and punching in a code on the keypad to the right of the jamb, turning the knob with a flick of her wrist once the light turned green.

Eric watched this all in near-amazement. He's never come across a human – or mutant rather – that used such security unless they were drug dealers or CEO's. To find it in Bon Temps of all places…he was right the night before. She really is a fascinating creature.

"You say that like I won't." He crossed his arms and gave a cocky smirk as she moved inside, leaving him waiting outside. "Can I get an invite?"

"There's not much for furnishings." She warned him with a look over her shoulder. "It's not finished quite yet."

He shrugged. He wasn't exactly planning on comparing decors with her.

"Come in, Eric." She said with a wave of her hand toward the nearly-empty foyer.

Ignoring him as he came inside and took a quick look around at the few signs of construction that still linger, Rogue moved towards the only semi-furnished room in the house – her library. Throwing open the thick cherry door she moved towards the two plush chairs already flanking the fireplace and gracefully sat down, waiting patiently for him to follow.

Her patience was rewarded as not a minute later he strode into the room like he owned it and settled himself into the matching chair.

"I don't know why you bothered to follow me home." She said at last with a shake of her head. "It's not like there's anything you have to say at this point that I want to hear."

Eric studied her now-completely-remote features with a discerning eye that's been honed on deciphering women's moods for over a thousand years. She's probably right and there's not. Every hint of her former mischievous nature and simmering desire was gone. It's as if she's an utter stranger. One that's cold and hardened towards him.

"Why is my faithfulness such an issue?" He asked after several minutes passed in silence. "I've never even heard of a monogamous vampire, the very idea is outrageous. Why should I change my nature for you?"

Rogue allowed a bitter smile to cross her lovely features at his questions. Of course he would see it that way. Her requiring him to change himself for the sake of her whims.

"Because except in the case of a sudden staking." She said, voice low and relentlessly mocking. "I'll be stuck with you for the rest of my life. Am I wrong?"

"No." He admitted. "You're not wrong."

"Then there is something you should've thought of before you claimed me. Before you sat me on your lap and held me close while you went about your "vampire business." _You_ could've sent me on my way long before Compton arrived. _You_ could've done things differently. But _you _are the one that chose to make me yours without my prior knowledge or consent." Infuriated at his conceit she rose to her feet, crossing over to his chair and slapping her hands on the armrests her voice nearly hissing. "How long do you think I'll live?"

Startled at the both the question and her accusations he thought a moment, tallying years in his head, then gave her his answer.

"Fifty years, give or take a fatal accident or illness."

The time her laugh was truly bitter as she strode back out through her house and waited for him on the porch. Once outside she simply pointed to his car.

"I could very well live forever." She said, watching his eyes jerk to her own as he stood beside his car. Beginning the short walk to rejoin her family, she tossed one last comment over her shoulder as he just stood there in shock.

"Perhaps you should rethink about why I would expect monogamy from my lover and see if you can come to a better conclusion besides my _merely human_-self expecting you to change, _now._"


	11. Chapter 10

**Skin Deep**

_A/N: So the plan (crosses fingers) is to finish Skin Deep by the end of March. Which means y'all can figure on updates coming really quickly and close together. That's the plan. Let's see if I can actually manage it._

**Chapter Ten**

Remy gave her a week.

One solid week of not bringing up the fight between Rogue and the vampire that he inadvertently interrupted. A week of watching Marie pretend to laugh and have fun with _la belle _Sookie. A week of her disappearing to her own personal paranoia-project under her house every day, for seven days straight. Seven days and seven nights of no leather, no silk, and no motorcycle. Seven days of not leaving the Stackhouse place unless it was to go do more work at her own place across the cemetery.

Remy let her have that week.

He let her mope and pretend to be happy and spend all her time avoiding any mention of vampires. He let her focus all her energy on crafting her subbasement, he helped her finish the work on a security system that might even be able to keep him out. Might. Maybe….he'll test it when she's not around to check.

Remy encouraged Sookie to go over to Rogue's house and help her paint, thinking that maybe she needed a female perspective or a woman to open up to.

He even lugged boxes and arranged furniture when the interior was declared "perfect" and then assisted sweet Ms. Adele with finalizing the landscaping.

Remy was a good boy and a good friend for a week.

Then Remy got evil.

If Rogue wasn't willing to pull her head out…well.

Remy knows exactly who could fix that for her.

And as far as her "man" troubles?

Well.

He knows someone who would be more than up to the job of taking her mind off them.

Remy just hopes that when all the chips are down his Marie is back, kicking ass and taking names. Even if it means she never talks to him again over the cards he dealt from the bottom of the deck this time.

*l*l*l*l*

Pam watched as her Maker sat immobile on his throne with all the animation of a mannequin for the fourth time in the last week. While enthralling the vermin is hardly Eric's preferred way to spend his time, he usually carries it off with just the right amounts of disdain and menace to keep the blood-bags entertained and paying the cover charge and sucking down overpriced drinks.

It's all that _creature's_ fault.

Ever since she shashayed her cute mutant ass into the bar, Eric hasn't been himself. Her Master is a Viking Vampire God who takes shit from no one and only gives a damn about his progeny, his Maker, and where he can find his next fight, fuck, and feed. Not this…apathetic creature.

Rolling her eyes she spun on her six-inch heels and heads back to the office to try and make some sense of the area paperwork that Eric's let stack up over the last week.

_Something _better give and soon. She doesn't know how much longer she can stand these…these _feelings_ that her Maker is unconsciously punishing her with through their bond.

And it's all _that creature's _fault.

*l*l*l*l*

Rogue strolled listlessly through her completed home, taking in the comfortable furnishings with their rich materials, the elegant rugs, the artwork and accents that were all selected to convey a sense of warmth and home combined with a bohemian flair. She took it all in, all the creature comforts that money could buy.

Down below the house in her "lair" as Remy took to calling it, she had a state-of-the-art computer and security set-up that Kitty would die for thanks to the stock she owns in Stark Industries. She also kept her work-out set up in the subterranean rooms: both fitness and combat areas to make sure she doesn't get rusty.

Not that such a thing is really probable with her mutation but it doesn't hurt to keep on top of things.

Yep, Rogue is on top of things and her life has fallen nicely into place.

Why then, is she so fucking miserable?

So far she's kept her dissatisfaction with her life from bleeding into her relationships with her family. Sookie is happy in the flirtation-stage with Remy (who Rogue is avidly avoiding due to his empathic abilities), Jason's back to being his horn-dog self since he was cleared in the Pickens case, and Adele is ecstatic over how the grounds at Rogue's house and the upgrades at her home are going. But it's only a matter of time.

Not being able to read her mind isn't going to keep Sookie from catching on.

The cousins are already asking questions about when Rogue is going to come back to Merlotte's to meet more of the people in town and their Gran has started hinting about Rogue attending church. Now that her house is ostensibly finished…Rogue is out of excuses for her anti-social behavior, especially with another woman, another fangbanger, popping up dead. This time the brunette from Sookie's work, Dawn.

Somehow she didn't think "I had the hots for a vampire who just wanted to add me to his stable of willing females and now I'm half-pissed and half-depressed" wouldn't be received very well.

Right about now she wished she had a mission to go jetting off on…

But she's done playing superhero.

She wanted a more stable life. A more normal life outside of being a vigilante.

She wanted time to come to grips with her parentage.

Now she's getting it and it sucks.

*l*l*l*l*

Remy just about did a happy dance when he got the call.

Stage 1 of Operation: Rogue Reboot is under way.

Time to call in the big guns.

*l*l*l*l*

Ten days after her disastrous second visit to Fangtasia, Rogue found herself being forcibly removed from her own home by the most devious of methods: guilt.

"Come on, cuz." Jase towed her into a brightly-lit Merlotte's with an arm planted firmly around her shoulders. "You've spent long enough cooped up in that big ol' house, getting it just the way you want it. You need to spend some time around people, have a drink, and loosen up."

She should've bolted when Sookie and her friends Tara and Lafayette barged into her master bath while Rogue was in the middle of attempting to relax in a bubble bath. She should've back 'em off when they talked her into letting them loose in her walk-in closet, now filled to the brim from a whirlwind of shopping courtesy of her credit card and her friend Jubilee being set loose with her sizes in Saks. The shipping alone from New York on everything was outrageous.

But the main mistake she made was letting Jason pick her up and toss her into the front seat of his truck…whether she liked it or not. She should've just dropped his ass, kin or no.

So now here she is: wearing a pair of knee-high sky-high-heeled boots in murderous red, silk stockings with garters in smoky grey, a leather skirt that screamed to a stop above mid-thigh, and a skin-tight long sleeved silk top in red to match the boots. Lala had himself a field day with her hair and make-up which combined with the outfit they bullied her into made her nothing but suspicious.

Jeans and a cotton T-shirt would've been more than dressy enough for the bar-and-grill.

What the fuck were they up to?

Watching through narrowed eyes as Remy sauntered on into the bar with an arm around Sookie – her suspicions started to dig in and grow roots. Slapping a sweet smile on her sexed-up face – smoky eyes and red lips to match her outfit – Rogue walked on over to her best-friend after they joined the friendly crowd around the pool table consisting of Jason and his friends Rene and Hoyt plus Sookie's friends Lala and Tara. Together with Remy, Rogue, and her cousins it made for a loud and lively grouping.

"Excuse me, Sook." Rogue shot a dazzling smile at her cousin, wrapping her hand in a biting grip around Remy's forearm. "I need to borrow Remy for a quick sec."

"Everything ok?" Sookie watched them out of concerned eyes.

"Everythings peachy." Rogue waved off her concern as she tugged Remy into step behind her. "Just peachy." She gritted.

Dragging him behind her to the alley back between the bar and the owner's trailer, Rogue blasted through the door and shoved Remy up against the outside wall.

"What the fuck is going on?" She demanded furiously. "What did you do?"

Before he could answer she heard a low chuckle coming from the shadows. A low chuckle that danced along her nerve-endings and sent shivers up her spine and tingles between her legs. A low chuckle that she would recognize _anywhere_. A low chuckle belonging to somewhere who should be anywhere but Bon Temps.

"Hey Stripes." Victor Creed stepped out of the shadows, grinding out his cigarette under one heel. "How's tricks?"

Glaring at Remy, refusing to look over at the man right under Eric on her "want to but _won't_" list, Rogue tossed him away from her inadvertently slamming him back up against the wall while she was at it.

"You called _him_?" She accused, voice disgusted. "Of all the people you coulda sic'd on me to get me outta my funk, you called _Sabertooth_?"

Ignoring both men, thoroughly pissed at the entire male gender, Rogue stormed back into the bar.

_I need a fuckin' drink. _She growled to herself.

_Right there with ya, kid._ Logan growled back. _I'm right there with ya._

*l*l*l*l*

Victor Creed just raised a brow at the bruised body of Gambit in a gesture common to both his brother and Stripes – that they both stole from him anyway.

"She been like that long?" He asked, the Cajun who sent him an S.O.S. several days ago. Not that he was put out by any means. Getting a chance to talk Stripes into bed now that she's not living with the runt isn't a shot he's about to pass up.

Have you seen the curves on that woman?

"Ten days, now." Remy said with a wince as he felt his minor healing factor working on the bones she almost snapped out of place when she threw him against the wall – twice.

Victor just grunted, Gambit gave him the run-down when they talked earlier that week.

"Jimmy headed this way?" He needed to get a bead on how long he has to soften up sweet little Marie before the runt-sized cock-block known as his little brother comes riding to her rescue. Nothing like a good fuck to shake off a funk and Marie's been in a funk off-and-on for _years_.

"Stormy said they're out workin' a mission somewhere. Be a couple more days at least before he gets the message."

"Excellent." Victor's grin was nothing but predatory as he clapped on clawed hand on Remy's shoulder, making the smaller male wince again.

*l*l*l*l*

Storming back over to the pool table Rogue picked up a shot of bourbon left there for her by a thoughtful Sam and shot it back before slamming it back onto the table.

"Rogue?" Sookie eyed her carefully.

"Your boyfriend is an interfering asshole." She snarled in response before turning and picking up a pool cue. "Who's up?'

"Boyfr…" Sookie spluttered, taken aback.

Remy just shrugged at Sookie's helpless look when he and Victor joined the group, Remy going through the introductions quickly as Rogue resolutely ignored both males.

As Victor walked up behind Rogue, bracketing her hips in his clawed hands and leaning down to nuzzle her ear, subsequently blocking her from the view of the rest of the bar, the doors were thrown open as three new arrivals took the place by storm.


	12. Chapter 11

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Chapter Eleven**

_Fuck._

Eyeing the newcomers with trepidation, Remy thumbed out his cell phone in case they need back-up. Or with Rogue's mood and Victor's presence…body bags.

With the speed shown by the black female in the bustier as she sped over to play with a teenage boy in a booth, they could only be vampires, and judging by their body language…they don't come in peace.

Pressing a number he kept on speed dial, just in case, Remy let it ring muffling the earpiece when the other end picked up.

"What?" The female on the other end who was perennially bad-tempered was on a tear if her voice was any indication.

"_Votre type de problème au Merlotte. Mieux arriver rapidement si vous voulez que le Rogue de jalonner un couple de votre propre en public pour merdes et fous rires." (Your kind of trouble at Merlotte's. Better get here fast unless you want the Rogue to stake a couple of your own in public for shits and giggles._ He murmured low into the mic before hanging up.

Because having a couple of mutant assassins in the form of Sabertooth and Rogue offing a trio of vampires in front of a bunch of humans wouldn't be good for _anybody._ Except maybe Rogue's temper.

Chuckling low under her breath as Sam tried to get the vampires to leave, Rogue peeked out from under Victor's restraining arm. With a wicked grin she whispered so only Victor's enhanced senses could hear, stretching up onto her toes.

"I had a run-in with the one in charge a while back." She stared into those feral-gold eyes, arching a brow. "Feel like playing?"

Walking around him with a sensuous slither that heated his senses, Rogue came into view just as the lead vampire complained about being "thirsty."

"Well, well." Malcolm grinned at his good fortune. "Look who we have here. Northman's little pet."

Rogue just rolled her eyes at that when Victor gave a pissed snarl behind her at the vampire's words.

"I'm no one's _pet._" She corrected him politely, running one hand down her silk-clad side. "I can't be caged or put on a leash."

"Isn't that the truth." Victor growled under his breath, coming up behind her and resting his chin on top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Oh goody." Diane grinned as she ruffled the blood-bag's hair she was playing with. "Because you just smell divine."

"Ok that's enough." Sam snarled pointing towards the door. "You're not welcome here."

"That crap only works on private homes." Diane yawned, straightening and moving to flank her Maker. "Not a public business."

Bill rushed through the doors of the bar, hearing the sounds of trouble from his place in the woods.

"Ah, Billy boy." Malcolm grinned. "Glad you could join us." He said moving over to drag one finger down Rogue's cheek, ignoring the snarls coming from the over-large creature hanging on her.

"Do you wish for the true death?" Bill demanded. "She's Northman's."

"Well," Malcolm said as Rogue just gave a feral grin. "His or not, Northman isn't here. And when Northman is away, Malcolm will play."

"Oh yes." Rogue said picking him up with one hand as Victor released her. "Let's."

"What the _fuck_ is going on here?" Eric demanded as he breezed through the doors and took in the tableau, Pam at his back.

Hurt and enraged at the sight of him, Rogue shot-putted Malcolm right into Eric's arms then leaned back into the comforting heat of Victor at her back, the deadly feral grumbling under his breath over "kill-joys."

"Oh, nothing much _Sheriff Northman._" She spat the name. "Just a few of your people getting a little unruly. Nothing we couldn't handle on our own."

"Compton?" Eric snapped, demanding his version of events.

"I arrived just as Malcolm touched your female. After an exchange your female picked him up and then you arrived." Bill gave as clear an account as he could without incriminating himself.

"The female seems to disagree with your claim, Sheriff." Malcolm said as he straightened his cuffs after climbing to his feet.

"All that aside." Eric growled. "Did you or did you not come into a public human establishment and cause a scene?"

"They intimidated my customers." Sam said with a growl of his own. "And refused to leave when asked."

"It will be taken care of." Eric promised, signaling Pam to round up Malcolm and his two nest-mates. "That I can promise you."

"Good." Sam said with a short nod.

Exchanging a burning, meaning-filled glance with Rogue, Eric took his leave.

Rogue watched him with flaming green eyes until the door closed behind him and she couldn't hear him anymore, then let out a breath.

Catching sight of all the curious – and scared – glances the patrons of the bar-and-grill were sending her she grimaced then looked up at the still-hovering Victor over her shoulder.

"Walk me home?" She asked simply.

Casting a glance up and down her, taking her and her outfit in, he laughed.

"In those heels?" He shook his head, shifting so his arm was across her back with the palm of his hand resting just above her ass. "I'll drive."

*l*l*l*l*

Eric watched as Pam shoved the trio of idiots, now sporting silver handcuffs, into the back of her van.

"I never took you for one to get upset over a little rowdy behavior." Bill commented as he moved to stand beside the massive Sheriff of Area 5.

"And indeed I'm not." Eric drawled with a mocking smirk on his cold face. "But threatening behavior in front of a bar full of humans and mutants – mutants that cannot be glamoured to forget – towards a mortal…" He trailed off with a meaningful glance at Compton. "Is something that can_not_ be ignored. The Authority expects us all to live according to a certain standard now. Busting up a bar, threatening the owner, and getting into an altercation with a mutant is not allowed."

"Particularly when that mutant is the Sheriff's?" Compton mocked, jerking his head towards the motorcycle roaring away from behind the bar with Rogue holding onto the driver, her skirt pulled up high on her thigh and showing those long legs in all their glory.

"Another reason to punish Malcolm. One even the Authority can't argue with." Eric said nonchalantly.

"Even though she disputes your claim?"

Eric just smiled as Pam slammed the door to her van shut and whirled on Compton.

"Since when does what a human – mutant or not – have to say about a claim _fucking_ matter?" She hissed. "_That creature _belongs to my Master whether she agrees or not."

"Have fun with that." Bill said with an arch look before vamp-speeding away.

"Can I just gut him and get it over with?" Pam asked petulantly, rolling her eyes.

"Not until we find out what I want to know." Eric smirked. "Then you can play with Mr. Bill Compton all you like, dearest."

Sobering, Eric stared off in the direction of Rogue's house. She left with that feral creature that was hanging all over her. A male that touched her as if completely unconcerned with her power. Eric growled low in his throat as his fangs lowered with a click at his rage, anger heating his icy blue gaze.

Pam just smiled at this sign of her Master finding his balls again after moping around for days acting like someone stole his favorite toy.

"Are you going to drain him?" She asked with an amused chuckle as she moved around to the driver's side door. "Or just strangle him with his own viscera?"

Eric arched a brow. The second option had merit, he hasn't done that in ages.

"That depends." He said after thinking it over for a minute.

"On?" Pam queried as she slammed her door and started the van.

"How clothed she is when I get there."

*l*l*l*l*

Inside the bar Sookie watched and listened in concern as the mild anti-vampire sentiment that ran through the town exploded like a wildfire. The patrons of the bar didn't know what to focus on first: the vampire "attack" or her cousin's little display of strength. Personally Sookie felt like the guy Rogue left with was the real cause for worry…an idea Jason seemed to share and Remy just shrugged off.

"Rogue's known _M'sieur Kitty_ for years. Longer dan anyone else she still talks to b'sides his little brother. De only t'ing we have to worry 'bout wit' those two is if de town can survive de two o' dem in one place."

"You really did call him to come see her…didn't you?" She asked with a quiet look. At his nod she asked another question. "Why?" His thoughts made Sookie want to take a hot shower…with lava to scrub the residue off of her. What the hell kind of good would a man like _that_ have on Rogue?

"Roguey…" Remy rubbed one hand at the back of his neck in a sheepish gesture. "There's only two men in de world who can touch her b'sides de vampires. One o' dem is Logan and he like a _pere_ to her. Victor…until Roguey met de vampire Remy always thought she'd end up wit' him. If anyone was gonna pull her outta dis funk over dat undead _le con_," _asshole, _"it would be him."

A curse from Jason pulled Sookie away from her conversation with Remy.

"What? What is it?"

"Some of those idiot bubbas are talkin' about burnin' down the vampire's house." Jason said low under his breath. "And a couple others are askin' questions about Rogue. About what she is."

Trading a worried glance the Stackhouse siblings looked as one towards Remy.

Thinking it over a minute, Remy fiddled with a couple of cards before shrugging. Rogue's unpredictable, there's no way to tell what she would want them to say or if she'd want them to say anything at all.

"Alright," Jason sighed, motioning to his and Sook's friends who've just been watchin' all the drama and suckin' down beers on Rogue's tab. "Here's what we're gonna do…"

*l*l*l*l*

Swinging off the back of Victor's Harley before he could even come to a full stop, she strode up onto the porch unlocking the door and waiting until he caught up, saddlebag thrown over one big, brawny shoulder. Leading the way into her home, she took off her high-heeled boots as soon as she was inside the door and out of Victor's way. Cracking her neck she let out a sigh then led the way upstairs to her guest suite.

Waving him inside, she just leaned against the doorway as he moved into the room, throwing his bag on the floor next to the walnut armoire.

"Did you ride straight through?" Was all she asked as she watched him stretched and crack his joints now that they don't have an audience, letting him unwind and relax without needing to worry about keeping up appearances as big-bad-Sabertooth.

"Yeah," he sighed, rolling his shoulders before shrugging out of his leather jacket and tossing it on an armchair. "Sixteen hours. I was at my cabin outside of Denver when I got the call. Closed the place up and rode straight here. Wasn't sure what I'd find." He said the last almost too quietly for her to hear.

Both of them just stood there for a moment, remembering the last time he got a call about her instead of from her.

"Full bath through that door," she pointed to a door nearly hidden in the room's wood paneling. "I'm going to go change and throw something together in the kitchen." She tapped her hand against the doorframe with a little smile. "Take your time."

"Marie." He called her name quietly as she turned to go. "I'm glad I don't need to call Jimmy, this time."

She just nodded without turning back around to meet his golden eyes that always saw too much.

Moving down the hall she entered her master suite. Once inside the privacy of her own domain she shed the silk dress and fancy underpinnings, exchanging them for a simple raw-silk camisole with lace edging and a pair of yoga pants both in a deep emerald green. Slipping her feet into a pair of sheepskin slippers, she ran a brush roughly through her teased mane, bringing it into a braid as thick as Victor's wrist.

"I thought my imagination was excellent after all these years." Eric's deep voice came from within the shadowed confines of her curtained four-poster bed. "But you've managed to exceed it."

Walking over toward the dimly lit portion of the suite that held the king-sized bed, Rogue brushed aside the sapphire-blue silk revealing his long frame spread diagonally across the wide expanse of her jewel-toned quilted comforter. Laying down beside him, matching up her head with his, she turned to gaze out into the room, seeing her closet and dressing area clearly from her position. Flipping onto her side she studied his smooth face that refused to yield any of his thoughts to her gaze. Rolling her eyes at the absurdity of males, she rabbit-punched him in the ribs making him hide a wince at the reminder of her strength, then climbed back off the bed and went to sit on the arm chair beside it.

"Have you come to some sort of monogamous epiphany or are you just here to irritate me?" She asked, crossing her legs and sighing.

"Neither actually." Eric said, sitting up now that the show was over. And what a show… "Irritating you was a side-effect of not being able to speak once you started taking off your clothes."

Laughing at his unrepentant leer, Rogue shook her head.

"Besides," Eric pointed out as he stalked over to her side, looming over her and placing his hands on the arm rests of her chair. "You basically waved a red flag in front of a bull back at that dive. And again when you left. You didn't think I could leave such blatant tactics unanswered did you?"

"I don't have time for your macho-territorial-bullshit right now." She rolled her eyes at him. "I have a guest that drove sixteen hours straight without a stop to rest just to make sure that I'm ok. You know why?" She asked, voice sarcastic. "Because someone called and told him I needed him. That's it. That's all it took. And you still don't know why I'm not willing to get involved with your conceited ass?"

Pushing him away she got up and strode towards the door.

"I dropped everything I was doing to come here tonight." He said softly. "All that took was a single phone call, as well."

She snorted, turning on her heels and crossing her arms, facing him.

"You came to avoid a media-nightmare stemming from me and Victor kicking some vampire ass all over Bon Temps."

"No." He admitted. "That just gave me an excuse to come without damaging my pride. I came because of you. I could've just sent Pam or some underlings to handle it. There was no need for me to deal with this personally."

Rogue watched the fleeting expressions flying across his face. The son-of-a-bitch was telling the truth. Seeing that she wasn't going to take the first step, he shrugged and walked over to her, taking one of her deceptively-delicate hands in his firm warrior's grasp.

"You hurt my pride." He kept his voice soft, not wanting to draw her guest's attention to his presence. "You let me get so far and then called me on the carpet and running away. When I followed there was another male at your home, one who was obviously more welcome than I. Then you sent me away and followed after _him_. You haven't come back to my bar, called, or reached out in any way in over a week."

Stroking the hand not cradling her own down her smooth cheek he shrugged.

"I'm a thousand year old vampire Sheriff. By the time I could see beyond my own pride and agenda I couldn't contact you without seeming weak to my subordinates." Grinning wickedly he added: "Besides, I've never had to chase a woman before. I'm a little fuzzy on the etiquette."

Covering the hand stroking her cheek with her own she let herself lean into the caress, closing her eyes with an internal sigh then made an admission of her own.

"It's not like I'm the poster-girl for functional relationships." Opening her deep green pools, she gave him a gentle look. "I'm willing to work within the expectations of your society. If you're willing to work within mine as much as you can. All I want is for you to try. Faithfulness is highly important to me, for a lot of reasons that I don't have time to get into right now. But if you're at least willing to try…so will I."

Pressing his thumb to her rose-petal bottom lip, he studied her carefully.

"You're going have to share some of those secrets of yours." He said after a long moment. "In my world some secrets can get you killed while others will keep you alive. But I'm going to need to know which yours are before you get pulled in any further."

"Same goes." She gave him an arch look before turning and tugging him towards the door. "Your world isn't the only one with monsters. The ones in yours just have better masks than those in mine."


	13. Chapter 12

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Chapter Twelve**

Padding silently into the kitchen following his shower, Victor narrowed his feline-gold eyes at the blood-sucker sitting at Stripe's kitchen island, watching her cook. Seeing the possessive stare and remembering the possessive _words_ from the bar – as well as Stripe's reaction – he grinned to himself. Now that Marie's physical health has been confirmed, if not her mental or emotional state, he could let himself play. And the vampire that has placed himself squarely between Victor and his current goal – Rogue's bed – has one big fucking target on his back.

Ignoring the heated glare sent his way by the mother-_sucker_ Victor glided up behind Stripes setting his hands on her hips and kissing her neck, all the while watching the vamp go from irritated to enraged in under a minute. Hearing the tell-tale click, Victor returned the fucker's flash of fang with one of his own prominent canines.

Shaking her head, Rogue doesn't even bother to turn from the pan that she's using to brown both sides of some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the tomato soup she'd made and put in the fridge earlier that day. Pushing Victor away with an absent flick of her hand, she considers how many times her male mutant friends are going to get into pissing matches with her vampire.

_A lot. _Logan answered her drily. _He's going to set off every single one of us, guaranteed. You're going to be dealing with this a lot, kid._

"The next one to snarl, growl, or otherwise act like a dog with a bone is going to be out on his ass." She warned them, turning her head to glance from one to the other. They'd arranged themselves on opposite sides of the island but each was exactly the same distance from her. She'd be willing to bet that if Victor moved an inch towards her, Eric would mirror him and vice versa.

"Who's the corpse?" Victor asked with all the cutting rudeness he's capable of.

"Who's the house-cat?" Eric mocked with one last lazy flash of fang before he let them snick back into hiding.

"Eric Northman," Rogue waved from the taller massive blonde to the bulkier massive blonde. "Victor Creed. Victor, Eric. Now play nice before I pin both of you in place, turn on Taylor Swift, and leave you to suffer."

Chuckling at the threat, Eric just nodded. He's only just gotten somewhat back into her good graces. He's not about to get cock-blocked by his own misstep _again_.

Sniffing appreciatively at the smells coming from with stove Victor just shrugged, straddling one of the barstools Rogue has circling the island. Picking up one of the finished sandwiches already on a plate on the island, he eyes the vampire warily before giving into his inner impulses.

"So, dead guy," he barely felt the smack Rogue gave him on the shoulder as she put a bowl of soup in front of him. "How'd you get involved with Stripes?"

"I went to his bar to do a little digging about these girls that keep getting murdered." Rogue said, dipping her spoon into her soup as Eric thought about how best to answer. "Mags and Co. tailed me and confronted me in the bar before I could even talk to anybody about it."

Eric gave a little smile remembering watching her knock out a woman with a touch.

"I'd never met a mutant before," he said as he watched them eat. "Let alone one with Rogue's power. After she sent off the others we talked and she alerted me to the murders."

"Who'd you drop?" Victor asked idly, imagining Pyro's chagrin at losing to the Rogue – again.

"Mystique." She said quietly. "Mags sent her to "talk" to me first."

"Probably was supposed to take you out and then the others would collect you." Victor commented, interrupting whatever she had to say next. "One of the reasons Erik and I parted ways – me bein' a merc or not – was over his focus on you." _More like obsession than focus._

She just laughed. "And it had nothing to do with him not being able to afford you long-term anymore?"

"That too." He grunted. "I'm spending more time at Creed Enterprises these days anyway. Taking a break from being a professional killer for a spell." Seeing her skeptical look he continued. "Hey, even I can get tired of bloodshed after years of nothing else. Wouldn't be the first time I took a break and probably won't be the last either, just ask Jimmy."

"I would." She said scathingly. "Except _someone_ refuses to let me fill him in on his history to try and get his memories back."

Victor just scowled into his nearly-empty soup bowl at that. Not his fault the runt got shot in the head and forgot about him. Also not his fault that he doesn't want his little brother to remember why they parted ways back in Legos and then again at Three Mile Island either.

"Thieves, mutants, killers, vampires," Eric said giving her a teasing look. "You certainly have an interesting group of friends."

"Thieves?" Rogue just blinked at him innocently. "What thieves?"

"It may have been dark a couple weeks ago." Eric answered drily. "And I was focused on other things at the time, but the lighting was rather excellent in the bar tonight. The Prince of Thieves is rather distinctive once you're aware of his identity."

"Please tell me he wasn't stupid enough to steal from you." She all but whispered paling.

Eric chuckled, shaking his head.

"No." He reassured her. "He worked a job _for_ me not against me."

"Oh thank god." She sighed. "I don't have enough friends to lose one from a terminal case of idiocy."

Because stealing from fucking vampires would be the height of suicidal stupidity.

Feeling his phone vibrate, Eric stood, holding out one hand to Rogue.

"I have to go deal with Malcolm and his nest." He said, helping her up. "Walk me out?"

Smiling she nodded before giving Victor a firm look that clearly commanded him to stay put. Linking their fingers, she just let herself enjoy the contact with another person without the slightest hint of worry that shadows even her interactions with Logan and Victor. Being with Eric might not be the safest – or sanest – of choices but it has the potential to be the most rewarding.

Once on the porch Eric searched the surrounding woods with his piercing gaze, making sure Compton or one of his ilk was spying on his Rogue before using their joined hands to pull her close in a tight embrace. Drawing her up onto her tiptoes and leaning down his icy blue eyes stared into her, looking for what she did not know but whatever it was he must have found it.

Closing that last desperate inch, Eric captured her lips with his in a long-overdue kiss. Starting off as just a firm if burning press of his lips to hers it quickly deepened as he tempted her into opening her mouth to his own with a teasing nip of his teeth. Drawing her tongue from its confines, he stroked it with his own, teaching her to do the same. Slowly he tapered off the kiss as his instincts howled in objection, an objection echoed by the protesting whimper his withdrawal coaxed from his innocent little vixen.

Pulling back and again studying her now desire-flushed face, he rewarded her passion with another quick kiss before giving her a wickedly-sensual smile.

"Vixen." He branded her, echoing his thoughts as he played with a strand of her hair before letting her go with a complimentary reluctance.

"Viking." She teased breathily, heart still pounding from his kiss.

With one last rakish grin, he gave her a peck on the forehead and grabbed her phone from her pants pocket, inputting a few numbers with vampire speed then sent himself a text so that he had her information in turn.

Handing it back then giving her a caress on her cheek, he stepped away.

"My number, Pam's, Fangtasia's private line, and my day-man's information." He told her. "I'll be seeing you soon, vixen."

"Not soon enough, Viking." She whispered after him as he sped away, not knowing that the wind carried her words to his ears.

Still mildly blushing she looked through her contacts as she walked back into the house, following the sounds of a hockey game to her rec room and Victor. When she saw the labels she couldn't help but laugh: Eric's Day-Man (Bobby), Eric's Progeny (Pamela), Eric's Sex-Line (Fangtasia), and Your Viking-Sex-God. The last one nearly had her in stitches by as she tumbled into one of her ultra-comfy stadium recliners beside Victor, who'd in her absence managed to locate her beer, her Scotch (mainly for him and Logan anyway), her universal remote for the rec room, and a jumbo-sized bag of venison jerky (strictly for him and Logan).

Raising a brow at his bounty she asked: "Have fun foraging?"

Victor chuckled. "Not every day I wind up somewhere so superbly prepared for my every need, Stripes."

"That's me," she quipped. "The ultimate host for Ferals everywhere. I should advertise, maybe open a B&B."

"You'd make a killing if you did." He told her seriously as he took a sip of his prime-Scotch. "Right up until you dropped somebody on accident."

She just laughed, not nearly as sensitive about her mutation around the few people who weren't as effected by it. Thank god she's never gotten more than a vague impression of Victor's immediate thoughts the couple times her mutation kicked on with him. The last thing she needs is Victor and Logan going rounds in her head all day every day until the end times.

"You're gettin' in pretty deep, pretty fast with that vampire from what I understand." He said, eyes on the game. "You sure that's a good idea. Not like you don't have alternatives."

Rogue cursed mentally. She knew she was going to have to have this conversation from the moment she heard his chuckle out back of Merlotte's. She could fucking kill Remy right about now.

"I want you." She said bluntly. "More than I'm comfortable with, if I'm being honest. But it's never going to happen, Victor. Not ever."

Victor turned his melted-gold feline stare on her, muting the game with a flick of a claw. Thinking rapidly as he studied her stoic features, he came to a conclusion.

"All these years we've been dancin' around each other." He said softly. "Teasin' back and forth, playin' mostly but sometimes lettin' things get a little more serious. I've always thought you held back on account of Jimmy. But there's more to it than that…isn't there?" His tone demanded an answer.

"Logan's a lot of it." She allowed with a nod. "But not all. How old am I, Victor?"

"Twenty-four unless I missed a birthday somewhere." He answered immediately.

"And how old do I look?" This time her voice was almost too soft to hear, even for him.

He traced his eyes back over her features, this time taking in all the different little things that he's overlooked – simply because they weren't there to be seen.

"Eighteen," he allowed. "Maybe. Probably younger."

"Yeah." She breathed, looking over at the silent action on the wall from the projected game. "I haven't aged a day since Liberty Island, Victor. I'm just like you and Logan. I could very well live forever. That movie was right, you know? The Pirates movie where Jack is talkin' to his dad. The trick isn't living forever, it's living with _yourself_ forever."

"Or in your case," he said as he was struck by what she was getting at. "Living with how many people inside your head, forever?"

"Logan." She started listing off all the personalities she either can't or won't purge from her mind. "Bobby, although I'm thinking about getting rid of that one now. John, Erik, Remy, Wolverine which as you know is different than Logan, Jean, and the Phoenix. There used to be others but they've been purged."

"Eight," he counted them as she spoke. "Eight people in your head, plus yourself. Seven if you get rid of IceDick but still…"

"I still have nightmares." She said after a couple minutes passed in silence. "Auschwitz, all of Logan's wars, multiple labs from Remy and Logan, Liberty Island, and more. Now add in all your memories, all your damage, all your kills. You want me to spend the rest of forever with all of that in my head?"

Understanding her point but still willing to argue with it, he shook his head, cupping her cheek in one clawed hand and thumbing away a tear she didn't even notice she let fall.

"There's nothing to say that will ever happen." He said, what was left of his heart breaking for what might-have-been, already knowing it's a lost cause but unwilling to give up without fighting for her. "Your mutation has never acted right with me, probably because my genetics are so close to the runt's. That combined with the steps you've made towards gaining control…"

"A spotty control at best." She interrupted. "And none at worst. I'm not going to play Russian-roulette with my sanity, Victor. I love you." She admitted, biting her lip. "I really do. You're one of the few constants that I've got in this thing I call a life. You're my friend and I know that you'll tear anybody that tries to hurt me into little unrecognizable pieces and then mail them to the scumbag's family. I love you and I want you." She reiterated as she rose from her seat and walking towards the door. "But you're the one vice I just can't afford."

Watching her with his heart in his eyes, he flicked the sound back on the game once she was out of sight. Before she could get out of earshot he spoke.

"Fun thing about forever." He said, watching an enforcer body-check a forward into the glass, making blood spill across the ice. "When you know you want something, you have all the time in the world to make it yours. I can wait. I can wait centuries for you if that's what it takes. We have forever. And I mean to spend at least part of mine with you."

Shaken to her soul at his resolve, Rogue continued walking away just like she's done for the last six years, almost every part of her hoping that someday he'll meet someone that will be worthy of his devotion. And one small part hoping that he doesn't, selfishly wanting to keep it for herself.


	14. Chapter 13

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: This chapter has the confrontation with Longshadow and starts gearing up to the killer-confrontation that wraps up Season 1. Notice I said killer-confrontation because I actually liked Rene's character so I might change to the killer is…but maybe not. Also after Season 1's events I'm going to be splitting off Sookie/Remy and Eric/Rogue as Remy takes Sookie home to meet the Thieves and Eric/Rogue head to Dallas. So at that point the chapters will alternate between the two storylines. The anticipated ending will take place at the conclusion of the Russell Edgington storyline/Season 3. For now._

_Oh! And if anyone knows/can find the Norwegian word for vixen I would appreciate it if they forwarded it to me. I couldn't so I used the Swedish rävhona instead._

**Chapter Thirteen**

The note on the kitchen island in lieu of Victor's presence didn't really surprise Rogue when she wandered downstairs in search of coffee right before noon the next day. For all that they go through periods of seeming-domesticity Logan and his brother are both wild men and wanderers at heart. One thing is as sure as the sunrise with them: without an important reason to stay, they'll always go.

But the small jewelry box the note was leaning against…now that was a shock.

Setting down her glass of iced coffee that she'd poured from the pitcher in the fridge before noticing the note, Rogue just gave the writing a cursory glance to make sure it was really from Victor – not one of Remy's pranks – then opened up the velvet case. She felt her eyes get a little misty for a split second as she eased the chain out of its holder and held up Victor's gift. Her keen eye and Erik's power told her it was fashioned from adamantium – which meant Erik was the craftsman and must have known about it when he saw her last.

That would explain why he didn't try harder to either recruit or capture her this time.

Dangling from the beaded chain – one she's very familiar with after all her years of wearing Logan's dog tags – were a new set of dog tags separated by a playing card charm: the Ace of Spades. The first tag had Logan's name – his real name James Howlett – on one side and Wolverine on the other while the second read Victor Creed and Sabertooth.

After lifting the extremely thoughtful gift over her head, letting the charms settle into her cleavage, Rogue picked up the note.

_Stripes,_

_A little birdy told me that you finally gave the runt back his tags. These aren't mine but they'll due to warn off a certain type of threat._

_After all, who's suicidal enough to take on Sabertooth, the Wolverine, and the Prince of Thieves?_

_See ya when I see ya._

_Try not to kill the Cajun._

_Victor_

_P.S. Let me know if your corpse-boytoy needs gutting._

Laughing and a little relieved at Victor's return to his bloodthirsty self after his brief detour into what he would term "girly-assed-frail-shit" behavior, she gathered up the card and her coffee before returning to her room, planning to add it – threat and all – to her collection of postcards from Logan. Something that would no doubt piss off both of the ferals if they knew about it. Both of them being highly sensitive over any attempt to lump them together, no matter how benign.

Recharged by the hit of caffeine, Rogue stripped off her clothes and set her new necklace down on the vanity with care. Now that her life has ostensibly returned to some form of her new normal, she was ready for a combat workout followed by a long shower before heading out to see Eric. Despite the first couple hiccups that came along with moving here – unsolved murders included – she's beginning to enjoy her new life.

Violent vampires and all.

*l*l*l*l*

Sookie paced restlessly in her Gran's kitchen going from oven to fridge to table and back again while Remy just looked on in a study masculine helplessness.

"Wha's wrong, _belle_?" He asked when he couldn't take the tense silence anymore. Normally with _filles_ he stayed out of their business and expected them to return the favor but his _belle_ is different. Sookie's been different to him from the moment they met.

"Everything!" She fumed, throwing up her hands as she made the turn back towards the oven where her brownies – made in an attempt to stave off a frustrated explosion – were baking merrily along. "My cousin has some sort of murderer-rapist-fiend camped out in her house and possibly her bed, she been moping over a vampire of all things, and there's another murderer-rapist running around Bon Temps and gettin' my brother in trouble with the police! What's right in this situation?"

Reaching out with his thief-honed reflexes as she twitched her cute little ass by him yet again, Remy caught hold of one of her waving arms and tugged her down onto his lap.

"There now, _belle_." He teased. "Tell Remy how you really feel."

Struggling for a moment before giving it up as a lost cause as he wrapped his arms around her waist she sighed, resting her head on his chest.

"I can't just not do anything." She said, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. "Not when I keep getting the feeling more and more that Rogue is setting herself up as some kind of target. Not when my cousin is running around huggin' on one killer, baiting another, and arguing with vampires. We just got her back." She whispered looking up at Remy's red-on-black gaze with tear-damp brown eyes. "I don't want to lose her already."

"We won't, _belle._" Remy gave her a firm squeeze from his strong arms, dropping a gentle kiss onto her forehead. "Remy promises. Rogue knows what she's doin', she knows how to handle herself. And Remy's not a bad man to have around, _hein_?"

"Remy…" She said slowly, remembering something Rogue's killer friend had thought the night before. "Last night I heard that man, Victor, think something. Something about you."

Remy shuttered his gaze before dropping his sunglasses back into place from their spot resting on top of his head.

"Somet'ing like what?" He asked, cautiously. _Mére de dieu!_ He kicked himself mentally. Calling in that big fur ball is seriously biting him in the ass. Just when he was starting to make real progress in wooing his _belle_ she plucked a thought from someone and now he's gonna be toast.

"He called you _that Cajun thief_." She said, staring at his frozen face. "What did he mean by that, Remy?"

Remy blew out his breath. Well, it was fun while it lasted but no way is a good girl like his _belle_ gonna be interested in keepin' company with a thief.

"Just wha' he thought." He said evenly, watching her carefully as he set her back on her feet. "Remy's a t'ief. De Prince of T'ieves, himself. Guess'n you don' want nothin' more ta do wit' dis ole Cajun no more, _hien belle_?"

"You steal for a living." She responded, hands clamped firmly on her hips. At his nod she asked another question. "From who?"

"Everyone who has somet'ing Remy was hired to take." He said revealingly. "Art, jewels, information. Whatever for whoever can afford Remy's fee. Only Remy be called Gambit…in some circles. It be de family business. Remy's _pere_ is de head of de Nawlins T'ieves Guild."

Lifting one hand she raised his sunglasses back onto the top of his head, staring into his red eyes. He confused her. Every little bit of her instincts shout that he's a good man, that she can trust him, that she's safe with him. But then she finds out that he's a professional criminal?

"What's goin' on in dat mind, _belle_?" Remy's voice was nearly begging her for some kind of sign either way about how she's doing with his revelation. "Talk to me."

That snapped her out of her mental fog.

"I've never heard you not use the third-person before." She said in amazement as she watched what looked almost like a blush cover his razor-sharp cheekbones. "Never. Not once in the last weeks."

"I can talk like this if I wan' to." Remy nearly mumbled as his face heated over his slip. "Usually only happens when I'm real upset or tryin' to get the seriousness of a situation through Rogue's thick head."

"You have to trust the person." Sookie gave him a blazing-bright smile as she focused in on the subtext. "You would have to trust me to slip, even if you're upset. It's one of the ways you keep people at a distance, isn't it? Like Rogue's gloves and in-your-face sexuality."

"Yeah," he rubbed at the back of his neck as his _belle_ nuzzled closer into his arms. "Most mutants do dat in one way or 'nother. Me 'n' Rogue are just extreme examples I guess."

"I'm glad you trust me Remy." She said quietly, stretching up to give him a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. "More than you know. Not just with your "job"," Remy winced a little at her sudden glare. "But with you too. Makes me feel…I don't know…kinda special."

"You are special, _belle_." Remy lifted her up in his arms and set her down to sit on the counter as the timer for her brownies went off. Moving smoothly, he clicked off the timer and the oven, setting the treat on the stovetop before picking her back up in his arms. Cradling her gently, he moved them onto the cushy couch in the living room – even though every bit of him wanted nothing more than to sweep her right up the stairs into her bed. "And Remy's going to prove it to you if it be the last t'ing he does."

*l*l*l*l*

Sweaty and panting for air after her strenuous workout, Rogue wearily climbed the stairs back up to the main part of her house from what even she's taken to calling her Lair. Damn Remy rubbing off on her. Lifting her ponytail from where it's spot sticking to her neck, she loosens the chain of Victor's gift and lifts it away grimacing when the metal tried to stay grafted to her damp skin for a moment.

After spending weeks doing little more than working with her powers, her physical training had taken a hit, one that she's determined to fix as rapidly as possible. Just because she's not a suited-up vigilante anymore doesn't mean that her life is going to be all sunshine and roses from now on. It wouldn't do to get sloppy or lazy.

Pouring herself a glass of ice-cold sweet tea from the pitcher in the fridge, she idly drinks it as she forced herself to climb the last set of stairs between herself and her goal: a hot, soothing shower.

Luxuriating under the spray she let out a sigh as the pounding water worked its magic on her tight and sore muscles. Rolling her head back and forth on her shoulders she propped both hands on the shower wall and stretched her back, allowing the majority of the spray to hit her back and legs where she needs it the most. Her adopted healing factor is wonderful but since sore muscles aren't necessarily an injury it always takes longer for them to return to their normal pain-free flexibility after a harsh workout. Wrapping her heavy mane of hair in a towel after stepping from the steamy enclosure, Rogue looks at her naked body for a moment in the floor length-mirror.

What will Eric see when he looks at her this way?

Will he focus on the scars she picked up before she adopted Logan's healing factor?

Trailing one hand down her side as she stares into the glass she softly strokes the three small scars underneath her left breast, knowing that they're echoed on her back. Six scars that bound her and Logan together for all time.

There's also the knife scar on her right hip from a trucker with a taste for young girls who wound up on the wrong side of her mutation and around her wrists – too faint for most to notice – the silvery-white bracelet of tissue from when Magneto put her in that machine, proof positive of just how hard she struggled to free herself.

Imperfections on otherwise flawless skin – and all the more obvious for it.

She knows he's going to ask about them, the history of violence written into her skin. How will she explain that Logan never meant to hurt her? Or that Erik is simply misguided but has a good heart? How will she stop her territorial soon-to-be lover from acting against them? Even though each wound happened long before he even knew she was even alive…her instincts told her that no span of time would matter to Eric, only that she was harmed.

Shaking off her thoughts – _borrowing trouble –_ she eyed the position of the sun as she moved to her closet.

Nearly sundown.

Moving with renewed purpose, Rogue quickly selected something guaranteed to please – and tease – her vampire.

Blood-red leather pants with lacings all up the sides were donned over top tiny matching lace panties while she foregoes a bra in favor of a very tight black leather vest with a plunging neckline that showed ample amounts of her moisturized and glistening skin. The bared expanses of her back, hips, and stomach would be mostly covered by her leather jacket. Stomping her feet into black leather boots, she let her hair down from its turban, brushing it briskly before twisting it into an ornate braid. Moving over to her vanity she applied a light coating of mascara and smoky eye shadow before darkening her lips with a deep crimson stain.

As she eyed her selection of earrings, attempting to make a decision, her cell phone rang from its docking station on her nightstand. Crossing the room in a heartbeat, she picked it up and grinned at the display before answering.

His lightly-accented purr came pouring through the earpiece and nearly melted her where she stood.

"Good evening, vixen. Are you coming to see me tonight or does that big pussy demand your attention?"

Rogue gave a shocked laugh, shaking her head. Territorial males. Always with the territorial males. Although she is grateful he didn't call Victor that to his face last night. She really didn't feel up to cleaning up blood in her kitchen at the time.

"_Victor_" she stressed the name. "Is gone already. He left before I woke up, leaving me with a note and a parting gift."

"Gift?" Eric narrowed his eyes as he paused in pouring himself a glass of warmed donor blood from the cache taking up the entirety of the mini-fridge in the bar he'd had installed in his study. Now that he's promised to abstain from drinking from all but Rogue – a pleasure he's yet to partake in and one that's making his fangs ache – he might need to expand his cache to include part of his main refrigerator which at the moment is stocked with human food in the event he can convince/entice/seduce his elusive vixen into spending time in his home. "What kind of _gift_?"

"Just a token," Rogue soothed his pride as she rolled her eyes and sauntered down the stairs, completely forgetting about the earrings in her preoccupation. "Something to help keep me safe."

"_I'll _keep you safe," he nearly grumbled under his breath. Calm, well calm_er_, he settled himself into the cushions of his buttery-soft gray leather sofa. _Gift._ He nearly snorted the word aloud.

"I can keep myself safe, thank you." She fired back tartly, holding the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she began digging through her freezer for something quick to pop in the microwave before heading out. "And yes," she said finally answering his main question. "I'm planning on heading towards Fangtasia after I eat and relax a little bit. Did you have something planned for us?"

She could barely control the excited-interest that leapt into her voice at the thought.

"Unfortunately not what I'd like." He said with a seductive lilt in his voice. "Last night while I was…dealing…with Malcolm's nest my accountant brought an issue to light."

Rogue understood the implications at once.

"Someone's stealing from you?" She nearly smacked her head on the top of the fridge in shock. "Who would be dumb enough to do that?"

"I'm unsure as glamouring my employees hasn't turned up anything useful." He said drily, thinking of the $60,000 missing. It was a drop in the bucket to him but it was the principle of the thing. "I was wondering if you would be willing to use your special talents to find the thief?"

She thought for a moment, pulling on Remy's expertise then asking a question.

"How much money are we talking about?"

"Sixty thousand dollars."

Rogue sat down abruptly on the closest bar stool, taking the phone from her ear a moment to look at it in shock. Suicidal. Someone at Fangtasia is clearly suicidal.

"I don't know that my talents are going to be of any use to you then, shugah." She said regretfully.

"What do you mean?" He sat forward, leaning on his elbows on his knees as he focused on the sweet whisky voice coming across the line.

"There's no way in hell a human, _any_ human would steal from a vampire. Especially not such un-concealable amounts." She said truthfully. "It would be suicide. And you know as well as I do that my talents that would be of use in this case won't work on a vampire."

Eric thought long and hard on what she said. None of his employees would admit to the theft, even under the compulsion of glamour. Pam certainly wouldn't bother stealing from him when all she needs to do is use his AmEx. But why would Longshadow steal from him? That's just as suicidal as a human doing so…unless he'd planned to glamour a human employee into confessing but the accountant found the discrepancy too quickly, reporting it directly to Eric himself instead of one of the others.

"That particular talent won't work on a vampire, true." Eric said after a long silence during which he could hear Rogue going about her dinner and moving around her house. "But perhaps we can use it to bait a trap."

"If you're planning on having me absorb a bunch of your employees so that whoever you have in mind for the thief reveals himself, you can forget it right now." She said at once. "I do _not_ need all those thoughts ramblin' through my mind."

"Perhaps we can come up with a compromise…"

*l*l*l*l*

Rogue paced impatiently in Eric's office as she waited for Pam and Longshadow to finish gathering the requested staff members for her to "interview" while Eric watched her from behind his desk with poorly-concealed amusement. After greeting her with a scorching-hot panty-dampening kiss, he escorted her to his office where he proceeded to work on his neglected paperwork and Sheriff-duties while she paced, throwing him glances running the gamut from irritated to unbelievably-arousing as she waited for the bar to close early and the staff to be rounded up.

No, his fiery vixen isn't pleased with him at the moment. But he's more than ready to be on the receiving end of her fire…as soon as they deal with his current headache.

"We're ready, Master." Walking into Eric's office Pam noticed the tension at once. Whatever this plan that the two of them have come up with it has clearly left them at odds. Pam barely managed to restrain herself from groaning aloud. Hopefully whatever crawled up their asses in the last couple hours they'll get over it instead of sulking for weeks – again.

"Thank you, Pam." Rogue said with a smile as Eric just nodded.

Rolling her eyes, Pam just held the door for her Master and his human/mutant/creature as they walked out into the hallway. Eric kept Rogue close with a hand on her silky hip just above the top of her pants. Entering the bar, Rogue noticed the three required humans: the accountant, Eric's day-man, and one of the waitresses, all standing nervously against one wall and then Longshadow leaning on the bar from his normal position behind the wooden barrier.

Feeling the pressure on her side, she allowed Eric to steer her over to the lone table with its two chairs. Turning one of the chairs to face the bar, Rogue peeled off her jacket, enjoying the quick gasp of excitement from Eric as he caught sight of all her bared skin – more than he's ever seen her show outside of her own home, watching her change without her knowledge aside. Tossing the jacket on the back of the chair and her gloves on the tabletop she crossed her leather-clad legs and waited.

Eric moved up behind his vixen, placing one hand possessively on the back of her chair as Pam summoned the accountant first.

Once the nervously-sweating overweight man sat, Rogue studied him for a moment before signaling Eric to begin.

"Ask your questions." She said softly.

"Did you steal from me?" Eric's voice was solid steel.

"N-n-no." The rotund accountant stammered. "I told you about the missing money, sir."

Looking down at Rogue out of the corner of his eye, he saw her slight nod.

"Do you know who took my money?" This time his voice was soft in its lethalness.

"N-no."

Rogue just gave another nod and Eric dismissed the man.

"You trust the strange human to clear the fat one?" Longshadow all but scoffed from his place behind the bar.

Eric silenced him with an icy stare.

"I would've thought you'd have figured it out by now." Rogue said placidly. "You've been here both times I came by previously. I'm not a human."

Next Pam called over Eric's day-man Bobby who was cleared just as quickly. With a thankful nod at the redhead, Bobby left to finish his tasks for the night. When it came time for Rogue to interview Ginger the waitress, Eric's "compromise" hit a huge stumbling block.

Wrinkling her nose before the nearly-anorexic woman even sat down, Rogue shot Eric a look. Catching it, he leaned down to whisper into her ear.

"What is it?"

"I can't smell anything on her." She hissed under her breath. "All I get from her is sex, drugs, and blood. That's it. I can't come even close to her natural scent. I'm going to have to touch her."

Giving her a searching look, after a moment he nodded.

Reaching out, Rogue lightly grasped Ginger's arm only to have the woman jerk away before she could get much from her. Frowning, she shot Eric a grimace. The woman's mind was like swiss-cheese. If that's what glamouring does, she's really fucking glad it doesn't work on her.

"Don't you fuckin' touch me!" Ginger burst out.

Shooting Pam a glance, Eric commanded her: "Hold her down."

"This won't hurt a bit." Rogue said, tasting the lie before it even left her mouth. This is probably going to hurt both of them. A lot.

Grabbing hold of the blood-bag's arm, Pam forced it back onto the table as Longshadow watched ever move avidly.

"Ask her your questions." Rogue said shortly. "It will make the answers easier for me to find." Extending her hand once more, she focused on absorbing what little there was to absorb before letting go abruptly, wincing. "That's all I can do without killing her."

Taking one look at the now-unconscious Ginger, Eric had Pam take her away and glamour her despite the already-damaged state of her mind. The less humans that know about his woman's gifts the better.

Resting her head against Eric's hand on the chair, Rogue closed her eyes focusing on sorting through and then purging Ginger's thoughts and memories from her system.

"Find anything?" Eric asked after a long tense moment, during which Pam re-entered the bar proper.

Rubbing her forehead wearily, Rogue gave a sigh. "I need to bleach my brain." She complained with a grimace. "Her brain was like swiss-cheese but what was there was just plain nasty. One thing I found for sure though." She watched Longshadow through her barely-opened lids. "Whoever stole from you definitely was a vampire. Ginger saw something and was glamoured to forget."

Before the last word was out of her mouth two things happened simultaneously:

Longshadow jumped for her, and Rogue pinned him to the bar top without so much as lifting a finger.

Shooting her vampire an "I told you so look." Rogue rose to her feet, sauntering over to the futilely-struggling form of the Native American vampire. As she came to a stop she was joined by both Eric and Pam.

"No wonder she's got you tied in knots." Pam commented, appraising the mutant with a new appreciation. "She's dangerous as all hell."

Ignoring his progeny's inciting words, Eric studied the restrained form of his now-former business partner with all the detachment of a scientist studying a parasite. Reaching down with gloved hands, he gave Rogue a signal to release the vampire and secured Longshadow's wrists in silver handcuffs before picking him up one handed and tossing him to Pam.

"Keep him downstairs with Malcolm's nest." He ordered. "I'll take him before the Magister. Let Magnus sort his idiocy out. I have better things to do with my time."

"You mean some_one_ better to do with your time." Pam joked as she dragged the subdued thief to the dungeon below the club, ignoring the glare from her Maker as she went.

Taking his vixen in his arms, Eric kissed her gently on her forehead. "Come home with me?" He asked softly.

Studying him a moment, Rogue hesitated before nodding with a wicked grin.

"I'd like nothing better."


	15. Chapter 14

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_**Lemon Warning!**_ _Eric and Rogue are going to get down and dirty…you have been warned. Also some smutty Remy and Sookie action but not really lemony goodness for them…yet._

**Chapter Fourteen**

_In your heart, in your head,_

_in your arms, in your bed, under your skin._

_Til there's no way to know_

_where you end and where I begin._

_I wanna melt in, I wanna soak through,_

_I only wanna move when you move._

_I wanna breathe out when you_

_breathe in, then I wanna fade into you._

_- From "Fade Into You" Clare Bowen & Sam Palladio_

Rogue gave a delighted laugh as Eric scooped her up into his muscled swordsman's arms, wrapping her long legs around his hips and winding her arms around his neck.

Upon leaving the bar and the now-restrained Longshadow to Pam's tender care, Eric took possession of her motorcycle, her vampire having arrived at the bar under other means besides his regular Corvette. Rogue just arched a brow at his high-handed behavior before climbing up behind him and wrapping herself as tightly around him as she could get. She'd been given a first-hand look at how he drove his sports car and she doesn't want to wind up road-pizza because she fell off her own bike while the Viking pulled some crazy stunt.

The whole ride to Eric's home – all whopping fifteen minutes of it as Eric put the highly-tuned BMW motorcycle through its paces – Rogue felt herself in turns being highly aroused and highly nervous. After all, she's a twenty-four-year-old-mutant-virgin and he's a thousand-year-old-Viking-vampire. They couldn't be more different on paper.

But then, those types of generalizations only go skin deep.

And there is so much more to her and her vampire than their daily masks.

Which brought her to now: wrapped around her sex-on-stick Viking while he carries her with effortless strength into his house. Strangely enough, of the two of them _her_ house is the more ostentatious, from the outside at least, Eric's home being a beautiful but restrained rustic Craftsman two-story home set back in a forest.

Kicking the carved oak door shut with one booted foot, Eric carried his woman up the stairs to his bedroom with vamp-speed. Thankfully his whole house has been treated with light-tight shutters that kick on automatically a half-hour before dawn, sparing him the hassle of having to leave his delectable little vixen alone in his bed while he sought cover in his basement suite.

A convenience he's very much grateful for having the foresight to install right at this moment.

Reaching his bedroom, he laid Rogue back on the soft white furs that cover his bed following her down to come over top of her, losing himself in her deep green eyes as he bent down for her drugging kiss.

Closing her eyes as his mouth captured hers, Rogue reveled in the overwhelming sensations just being this close to him, being kissed by him that threatened to throw her heart and mind into chaos. Even with Victor when he would surprise her with a burning kiss or Remy when he would tease one from her, she was always, _always_, aware of her mutation and the danger it put the man kissing her into.

But here, now, with Eric she doesn't have to think about that. She doesn't have to think, worry, or be aware of _anything_ except how amazing he's making her feel. It's an entirely-liberating moment for a woman that's had to be aware of everything for the last eight years, lest she unknowingly kill someone.

Sinking deeper into the kiss, Rogue let herself soften, inviting him to do as he pleased.

He pleased quite a bit.

Unwrapping her arms from around his neck, Eric pulled back from drugging her with his kisses to look upon his work thus far. With the wicked-edged smirk he's known for, Eric grabbed the bottom edges of the miniscule vest and _ripped_ popping the buttons in one quick jerk and baring her luscious breasts to his devouring gaze – and mouth.

"Just as beautiful as I remembered, vixen." He whispered before lowering his head to pay homage to what had to be one of the finest pairs of breasts he's ever had the pleasure of getting his hands on.

For her part all Rogue could do is moan and arch her back as he captured first one rosy nipple then the other with his teasing mouth, nipping lightly, threateningly with his teeth. Digging her hands into the long golden hair that fell forward as he leaned down, Rogue fisted her hands in it as she clamped her legs even further around his hips, grinding her still-covered mound into his fierce arousal.

Growling he shot her a look from his not-human eyes, taking in her flushed features and hearing the delightful sounds of excited moans and gasps that had her lovely breast bouncing before him. Working his way down her smooth skin, he paused a moment to trace a trio of scars on her ribcage before continuing ever downwards. Coming to her navel, Eric stopped a moment to caress it with his teasing tongue, ignoring the impatient tugs on his hair.

As he sat up Rogue let her hands fall from his hair, running them down the tight t-shirt that hid him from her gaze. With a burning glance, she gathered the hem of his silk shirt in her delicate hands and in a movement mirroring his own, ripped it right down the center of his chest from bottom to top. Leveraging herself forward with her strong core, her greedy hands caressed every inch of his sculpted torso as she flicked the tattered remnants of his shirt off his shoulders before removing the remains of her vest with a shrug and a fling of her hand.

Fiercely enjoying the unabashed pleasure she took in his body – a pleasure he could more than reciprocate, Eric allowed his _rävhona_, his vixen, her exploration of him, only stopping her when her nimble hands went to tunnel under his belt.

"Tsk, tsk, my impatient little vixen." He said, pressing her back into the fur-covered bed as he gave her a searing kiss, nipping at her bottom lip. "You're not the one in control here,_ min kjæreste_." (_My lover.)_ "I am."

With that he quickly removed both of their boots and socks then tucking his hands in the waist of her leather pants, stripped them from her, leaving her wearing nothing but a necklace made of a strange metal and a tiny black lace thong.

Feeling his fangs click down at the sight she made: all fiery hair and glistening skin with that faint hint of black lace against the white fur of his bedcover, Eric let out a low rumbling growl before covering her body with his own, taking her in a soul-drugging kiss that scorched them both down to the bone. Again Eric followed the sweet succulent curves of her with his mouth, only pausing to place nipping kisses along her thundering pulse at her neck, then again giving her trembling breasts a long brush of his tongue. Continuing, soaking in every tremble her body made and every yearning cry that poured from between her kiss-bruised lips, he ran his tongue across another scar, this one high on her hip before lowering himself to his prize.

Staring into her pleasure-dazzled eyes, Eric lowered his head and gave a long sweeping caress of his tongue over the drenched-lace that concealed his prize from his gaze. Rogue's moaning gasp and arching back were like magic to his senses as he settled into enjoying having his vixen right where he wanted her – under him. Peeling the pleasure-soaked lace down her long satiny legs, Eric moved her so that her thighs bracketed his head, her hands digging back into his hair as she sighed, gasped, and moaned under his tongue.

As the tell-tale shivers and spasms began to take her under, Eric raised his eyes to her enraptured face, determined to remember every second of her release.

Overwhelmed by the intensity of the pleasure Eric was giving her, Rogue was helpless to do anything but roll her hips against his questing tongue, burying her hands in his silky hair and moaning. Before long she felt the first little tremors that heralded her climax. As the desire washed over her, she could feel his eyes on her, causing her to bare her gaze to him like she's bared her body. At her peak when she was insensate with the fruit of his labors, she felt him come over her in an inhuman movement.

Sheathing himself in her before her climax could abate, Eric parted her folds with a smooth firm thrust, taking her virginity and claiming her once and for all as _his_ while she was dazed from her peak.

Arching her back at this new sensation, feeling him completely surrounding her, _in _her, Rogue hardly felt the pinch of pain that accompanied his entry, the minor discomfort simply bled into her quickly recurring climax.

Opening her eyes, Rogue saw the intense look of desire, pleasure, and need all warring and blurring together on Eric's flawless face. As he moved down to capture her in a conqueror's kiss, Rogue delved into his mouth, returning every fraction of his ardor. Pulling back as he hit a particularly intense pleasure-center within her, Rogue felt her tongue drag softly along the razor-sharp edge of one fang.

Smiling gently up into his burning blue eyes, she just tilted her head to one side, baring the curvature of her neck in wordless invitation.

Growling, Eric felt his inner-barbarian king roar to life at the timeless gesture of submission, lowering his fangs to her neck he nipped lightly, only playing, as he pounded into her furiously. He knew that as intense as their joining has been that his bite is guaranteed to send them both over the edge into pleasure. Waiting, he continued to suck and nip at her neck leaving her with several marks of his possession, until he could at last feel her begin to peak for the third time.

Dragging his tongue carefully along her thundering pulse, he bit deep and followed her down into pleasure as he took greedily of everything she offered.

*l*l*l*l*

Laying in his arms long moments later, Rogue felt it as she began to come back to herself as the punch-drunk pleasure of being well-fucked began to wane. Slowly she could feel little things besides the happy-tingling humming along her skin.

The tickling softness of Eric's bed.

The weight of Eric's arm surrounding her as they lay side-by-side.

The slight brushing of Eric's thumb caressing where he bit deep.

"No mark." He mused, sensing his lover coming down from her high.

"No," she said after a moment, tilting her head up to look into his satisfied gaze. "There wouldn't be."

"Your mutation or a copied one?"

"Copied," she said giving her body a wonderful all-over stretch. "I believe the phrase was 'uncharted regenerative capabilities.'"

"Hmm," Eric just hummed under his breath. Feeling the necklace's chain under his thumb, he lifted it, bringing the tokens to his gaze.

Rogue just watched him out of languorous eyes. She's feeling much to content with life at the moment to argue with him or feel anything but satisfied.

"I know who Victor is," he said flipping through the three charms. "But Logan is new to me." He's sure that the playing card was of some significance as well. His vixen would be nothing less than a Queen, not even an Ace.

She hummed under her breath, taking the tags and charm in one elegant hand. As she explained the different meanings to him she held up the tag or charm in question.

"I'm not a part of any mutant group anymore. But even when I was I was a target and I wore a set of dog-tags as a warning." She began slowly with information he very-well might already know. "When I left I gave Logan," she held up his tag. "Back his dog-tags."

"He's the paternal one." Eric said, remembering what she'd told him previously about her mutation and the two mutants that could somewhat withstand it.

"Right." She nodded her head. "He gave them to me years ago as a promise that he would always come for me. With other mutants it was as much a threat as it was a warning. I 'belonged' for lack of a better word to the Wolverine. Now Victor…" She lifted his tag.

"The big pussy." Eric interrupted, fielding her sanctioning glare with aplomb.

Rolling her eyes she continued. "Somehow he knew that I gave Logan back his tags and had this necklace made for me. A warning that while I may not fight on any one side anymore I'm still protected by the feral brothers. Actually having Victor's protection might be even more effective than Logan's."

"Why's that?"

"Lots of people are afraid of Logan. He's spent a lot of years making a name for himself as a fighter and as a X-Man. But Victor…" She trailed off a moment trying to think of a good comparison. "It's like a man-eating tiger vs. a trained guard dog." She decided. "Logan is fierce and will do whatever he can but he'll stay within the law for the most part. Victor doesn't recognize any authority or follow any moral code except his own. Logan would go to the ends of the Earth if I was in danger. Victor would burn the world to the ground and then pluck my still-breathing body from the ashes and take me off to a cave somewhere."

"And the card?" Eric asked, taking the necklace from her and lifting up the small charm.

"Gambit." She said with a laugh. "The three of them together represent three of the most feared and/or respected mutants that no one wants to tangle with. They worry." She finished simply.

"On the topic of protection," Eric shifted turning onto his side and propping his head on his hand as he let the necklace drop back into her cleavage. He doesn't like that she wore anyone else's mark, no matter how benign, but he can't argue with something that is meant to keep her safe. Stroking the side of one finger down her neck, he continued. "Normally a vampire's human will wear a mark. But with you that's going to be a problem. You'll have my scent on you and that will be enough most of the time…but there may be times where something more is needed."

"Vamp rules?" She arched a brow as she rolled to mirror his position, taking no motion to cover her naked body.

"More like guidelines for keeping you safe." He hedged carefully. "You're not my bonded," _yet_, "or my wife so you could be in danger at times around certain individuals if I don't take precautions."

"Hmm." She thought on that a moment as she reached up and gently brushed a lock of his hair from his eyes. "What do I need to do?" She asked, giving in gracefully. She'd agreed to working within the rules of his society when she can and so far he hasn't asked for anything extreme.

Rising with preternatural grace, Eric strode over to a box sitting on top of his dresser, giving Rogue a moment to examine his bedroom. The massive king sized bed with the furs she was arrayed upon was a beautiful sleigh design with runes and knotwork carved into the light honey-toned wood. All of the furniture was of similar design and in that lovely honey color from the nightstand to the dresser to the desk across the room. The bedcovers were all white with splashes of deep blue and the walls were painted in a soft sea blue-green. All in all, it was comfortable and reminded her very much of the northern ocean she would visit during her stay in New York.

Her Viking vampire made his room into a reflection of his own northern home.

Vamp-speeding back over to the bed, Eric knelt at her side as she lifted herself into a seated position against the pillows lining the headboard. Offering her the box, he explained as she opened it and examined the contents.

"Normally I would wait before giving this to you, but I couldn't help myself and had it made after our fight." He shrugged, he just couldn't get her eyes out of his mind.

Lifting the torc necklace out from its velvet bed she arched a brow as she turned it towards the light, watching the gems flicker and dance even in the dim lighting of his bedroom.

"It's platinum," he explained, stroking on finger down the curve of the torc as she held it up. "With diamonds and emeralds on the end pieces in an Old-Norse chieftain's design. Any vampire who sees you wearing it will instantly know who your vampire is."

"Why do I get the feeling that you have one that matches this from when you were human?" She said laughing.

Eric just grinned, enjoying her quick-wit. "Mine doesn't sparkle, though." He corrected her. "And it's gold."

"Still." She teased before handing it to him. "Put it on me?"

Eyes heating once more Eric took the torc from her – a chieftain's wife torc – and fitted it around her neck with the utmost of care, positioning the end pieces precisely so that they rested in the hollow of her throat.

Keeping one hand around her neck, he stroked his thumb down, feeling her skin begin to heat once again. Spying the resurging desire setting flame to her eyes, he bent down to retake her mouth.

"My vixen," he murmured as he captured her lips in a searing kiss.

_My Viking._ Was the last thing she thought before letting him take her under once again.

*l*l*l*l*

Sookie walked over to her cousin's house across the cemetery with Remy tagging along, one arm wrapped contently around her shoulders.

She needs to talk to Rogue, desperately. If anyone can give her sound advice when it comes to Remy it's his best friend and besides that if someone doesn't make a break in this serial killer thing she's going to bust right out of her skin.

However to her dismay as soon as the house came into sight it was clear that Rogue wasn't home with the house dark and her motorcycle – as well as that awful mutant's – gone.

"Do you think she's ok, wherever she is?" Sookie couldn't help but ask anxiously.

"Hey now,_ bébé_." Remy pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Don' worry none. Roguey can handle herself."

"But that man…" she couldn't help herself, Victor's mind was just that foul.

"Eh," Remy shrugged. "Ol' Victor left dis mornin', gave me a call a little while ago lettin' me know. You don' have ta worry 'bout dat no more, _hein_?"

Sookie let out a breath as that worry lifted off her shoulders then felt herself wilt as another took its place. If she's not with Victor, at Merlotte's, or with them…where could she be?

"Come on,_ belle_." Remy tugged her over to the padded porch swing Rogue added to her wide front porch at his suggestion. "We'll jus' sit here a piece and watch de stars. If Roguey comes home while we here, she comes home. If not," he shrugged. "We got to spend some time away from dat brother o' yours."

She giggled at the thought of the kissing session Jason walked into earlier that day after Remy confessed his profession. To say Jason didn't react well to his baby sister gettin' that familiar with a man would be an understatement. Only Gran's timely arrival from her Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting kept that encounter from turning into a full-on brawl.

Turning her face up to his, loving the heated look in his red-on-black eyes, Sookie just snuggled further into his side as Remy lowered his head for the first in a series of deep, drugging kisses.

Picking his_ beauté douce, (sweet beauty), _up from her spot at his side, Remy dropped her firmly onto his lap, forcing her legs apart to straddle him. Loving the little gasp she made as she came into contact with the hardened proof of his desire, he leaned back, nipping lightly at her pouting bottom lip before looking deep into her melted-chocolate eyes. Watching her every expression, Remy bucked up lightly with his hips, torturing himself as she gave an aroused little gasp.

Giving a deep masculine growl of satisfaction, he held her tight as he turned them on the seat, pressing her back into the cushions as he raised his work-roughened hands to the top of her innocent little sundress.

Staring deep into her eyes, Remy brushed aside the pretty little straps and lowered it to her waist, baring her to his scorching gaze.


	16. Chapter 15

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: No real lemon in this one just some fluffiness but Magnus the Magister makes an appearance and Rogue buckles down to finding the serial killer. Also since Jason isn't a complete tool in my stories, no V-usage and subsequently no Amy psycho-ness but there is an increased body count, just you wait and see…_

**Chapter Fifteen**

Rogue awoke from her satiated slumber when she felt cool lips caress her shoulder.

Upon rising from his daily death, Eric had been very pleased to see that Rogue still slept peacefully after he'd spent his night making sure she was utterly exhausted, hoping that she would remain by his side until he arose. Happy that his scheme work – he began trailing kisses up and down her bared arm and neck until she stirred from her sleep.

"Tell me a secret." He whispered in her ear as he stroked her bare hip with one still-callused hand, the remnants of his life as a warrior never disappearing completely.

"Hmm," she gave a kittenish little rumble. "What kind of secret?" She asked drowsily as she peeked up at him from under still-lowered lashes.

"Tell me…" he thought a moment before catching and grabbing hold of a fleeting thought. "Tell me about your family. Not your cousins, your birth family."

Eric could feel the sudden tension that coursed through her body at his words. He arched a brow as she sat up abruptly, grabbing his silk sheets and holding them to her shoulders with one hand, concealing her luscious body from his gaze.

"My family…" she looked off beyond him to some point in her mind where he couldn't see. She laughed bitterly. "My _family_ is a secret that's worth much. What will you give me in return? Will you give a secret of your own?" She cocked her head, eyeing his unrepentantly-naked form.

Prowling up beside her he thought a moment before nodding in agreement. He had the perfect one in mind. "You first."

Grumbling under her breath, now wide-awake, Rogue tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

"My mother was sister to Sookie's. But instead of being a good Southern girl of the time she went out and won a scholarship to a university up north. That's where she met mah father."

Taking her hand in his he rubbed his thumb soothingly over her palm. "Who was he?"

"His name was Charles Xavier." She rocked her head back and forth, trying to guard herself from the pain that came along with this line of thought. "He was the most powerful telepath to ever live, so far as we know. I never understood, neither did anyone else for that matter, why he left me the inheritance he did. Not until I turned twenty-one and his lawyer turned over a letter from him along with the rest of my inheritance."

"What kind of inheritance?" Eric prompted when it seemed like she was getting lost in her memories.

"Five million dollars originally when he died." She said, opening her eyes to stare at him. "That was when I was nineteen. When I turned twenty-one I got the rest of it. Turns out that he left his "beloved daughter" over half of his worldly goods. Over half a billion dollars in bank accounts, stocks, investments, property," she waved a hand. "You name it."

Eric gave a soundless whistle. His little vixen had wealth on par with any vampire. Well…any vampire under five hundred years old. Only a truly stupid or spendthrift vampire older than that would have under a billion in assets.

"What really kills me about the whole situation was that he knew me." Rogue brought her knees up and circled them with her arms. "I lived in his house and attended his school for three years before he was killed. He knew I was looking for my birth father for a year after I received my mother's letter on my eighteenth birthday. He listened and comforted me when I cried. And that whole time he never said a _word_."

Crawling up behind her, Eric brought her back against his chest, comforting her with his embrace. He knew that there was a story behind her family after all his digging failed to turn up anything. He just never expected something like this.

"He was my mentor and my teacher." She rested her head in the crook of Eric's neck with a sigh. "But he stepped aside and let Logan be my father. Hell, he threw us together every chance he got, reinforcing that bond. Although, if I came from any other mutant family, I wouldn't be nearly as powerful as I am."

"How so? Are you some kind of mutant royalty?" He teased her, nipping at her ear lobe. "Have I defiled the mutant princess?"

Rogue laughed, something telling her it wouldn't be the first time he's worked his charm on a princess, before answering.

"After a fashion," she gave him a smacking kiss. "Yes. Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr were the two leaders of the majority of mutants. Charles was a low Class Four Telepath while Erik is a high Class Three Metalkinetic. Where it gets interesting is with Raven, Charles's sister. She's a mid-range Class Four Shapeshifter. You saw her, she was the blue woman I knocked out in your club. She goes by Mystique."

"What does the class system mean?" Eric asked, somewhat confused. He'd given vague thought to the wide range of powers that various mutants possess but never in much depth.

"Mutant powers are classified in five levels. The lower the number the lower the inherent power that mutant possesses." Rogue shot him a look to make sure he was following her so far. "Seventy-five percent of all mutants are Class One or Two. Of the remaining twenty-five percent, twenty percent are Class Three, and four point nine nine percent are Class Fours. Only one-one hundredth of a percent of all mutants are Class Five."

Turning her in his arms now that he understands just how powerful her father was, Eric stared her down.

"And what are you?"

Rogue gave him a bitter twist of her lips that could almost pass as a smile.

"Me, shugah?" She batted her lashes. "I'm a Class Five."

*l*l*l*l*

After allowing that bombshell to settle into Eric's brain, Rogue climbed to her feet, collecting the remnants of her clothing as she went. She really, really needed a shower. She was just covered in Eau d' Eric.

"Everyone always underestimated me." She comments as she examined her leather pants for any rips or tears in indecent places. "That was the one favor Xavier did for me while he was alive besides helping cement my relationship with Logan. He point-blank lied on any forms or files regarding my mutation. Always put me down as a low Class Three. Your turn, shugah." She eyed him as she sauntered over towards the en-suite bathroom. "What's the secret you're gonna share?"

Climbing to his feet and following her, eyes clamped firmly on her swaying ass under the silk sheet she wound around her body, Eric cast a leering gaze over the powerful creature he's made his own. If he was determined to make her his before, now he's resolved to never let her go. A woman like this doesn't come along every millennia, and he's not about to lose her now that he's found her.

"I've spent the last thousand years hunting someone." He said as he stepped behind her into the hot spray of the shower. Soaping his hands he let them play up and down her curves under the pretext of "helping" her wash. "A vampire killed my family while I was human. Father, mother, baby sister. All gone in an instant. That rage fueled me for years and I rampaged with my men all across Scandinavia, Denmark, even what you would call Scotland. All in search of the same man."

Turning to look at him over her wet shoulder, she saw the still-burning rage in the depths of his eyes.

"That's one hell of a vendetta." Was all she said, not put off at all by the display of his anger in his lowered fangs and snarl. "I drained the mutant that killed Xavier dry. Pulled every last bit of her into myself and locked her in a cage so deep and dark she'll spend eternity thinking on how thoroughly she fucked up by fucking with my family. And that was before I knew he was my father."

"Magneto was right," Eric said as he grabbed her by her hips and pressed her back against the cool tile of the shower wall, slipping inside her with a smooth thrust. "You truly are magnificent."

*l*l*l*l*

After a futile attempt to fix her vest enough to be wearable, Rogue tossed the mangled garment in the trash with a sound of disgust then walked still-topless into the closet where Eric had gotten dressed at vamp-speed before going downstairs to listen to his voicemail so she could get dressed in a modicum of peace and quiet. Thankful for the regenerative gift that keeps her girls high and firm so she didn't need to wear a bra every time she left her house, she quickly threw on one of Eric's black wife-beater tanks, tucking it smoothly into the top of her red leather pants that she was having to wear commando thanks to Eric's destructive tendencies.

Fully dressed at last, with Victor's gift re-fashioned into a bicep cuff with the three charms hanging down, Rogue followed the deep rumble of Eric's voice into what had to be his home office. Furnished with deeply-cushioned leather sofas and ancient Norse artifacts, the room boasted a fireplace and built-in display shelving along with the massive carved rosewood desk sitting dead-center in the room. Eric's tall form was lounging with his feet up on the blotter, his black leather executive chair tipped back as he listened to whoever was on the other side of the phone call.

Feeling and hearing her stomach grumble, she motioned towards the kitchen with one hand only to be stopped by Eric holding up his index finger.

"Pam." He interrupted his progeny's current complaint regarding having Malcolm's nest holed up in their basement until their hearing. "Just forward the documents to Magnus and have his secretary add them on the docket. I have to go. I'll be in later tonight." Ignoring her sarcastic commentary about the effects of "magical mutant pussy" Eric hung up his desk phone and stood.

Walking over to his beautiful Rogue, Eric swept her up in a torrid kiss, not letting her back down until her breathing was satisfactorily rushed and her face was flushed.

"My vixen requires care." He teased her, tucking one of her white stripes behind her ear, as he heard her stomach growl yet again.

"Your vixen requires _food_." She tossed back, flicking him on the chest. "I slept the day away because _someone_ wore me out last night, and my body is definitely feeling the lack of nourishment."

"Then come," Eric tucked his arms around her waist as he grabbed his keys and jacket. "We'll get you something to go. It seems there are matters at Fangtasia requiring our attention."

"_Our_ attention?" She gave him a searching look.

"Our attention." He nodded firmly. "Come," he said steering her towards the door. "I'll explain on the way."

*l*l*l*l*

Apparently when you're dating…or whatever…a vampire "getting something to go" means that your vampire called in an order at the best restaurant in the city – despite the fact that they don't normally have a to-go menu, and had it picked up and delivered by his day-man. Since the bar hadn't opened for business yet, Bobby had served the meal Eric ordered at one of the tables, presenting Rogue with a seared scallop topped garden salad, a roasted rack of lamb with asparagus risotto, crusty bread with dipping oil, and a marbled chocolate-strawberry cheesecake.

Rogue just raised a brow at Eric as he gave her a kiss and sat her down before going with Pam into the office. He had yet to explain why she was here instead of on her bike and heading back home. For all that she's comfortable in her mishmash of clothing, she really could use a fresh outfit and needs to check in with Remy before the Cajun tracks her down a blasts her with a charged poker chip to the ass.

She did have a moment of pause when Ginger arrived and introduced herself to Rogue just as she was finishing her meal. The frazzled blonde waitress cleared away the empty containers as Rogue stood, Bobby having disappeared out the front doors once Ginger arrived. Thanking the blonde, Rogue moved over towards the hallway to the office, unzipping her jacket as she went.

Walking into the office after a quick knock, Rogue propped herself against the doorway, leaning into the room. Looking up from the pile of paperwork in front of her Master, Pam paused mid-word as she caught sight of what her Master's pet was wearing around her neck. Shooting Eric an incredulous look she barked at him in Norwegian:

"_Du giftet seg med henne?" (You married her?)_

"_Ennå ikke." (Not yet.)_ Eric silenced his progeny with a glare.

Catching onto the irritated undertones of their conversation if not the actual words, Rogue shifted her eyes between the seated Eric and Pam who was standing over him, pointing out something on the paperwork before them.

"I need to head back to Bon Temps." She said after a tense moment. "So if you could tell me why I'm here…?"

"Two more were killed last night in Bon Temps." Eric answered her. "However since this time it was a pair of drainers as the police discovered a bound and staked vampire in the couple's basement, I'll be getting officially involved as the Sheriff of Area Five." He shot a firm look at Pam.

"I'll leave you two to discuss…things." Pam drawled, leaving them alone and shutting the door behind herself.

Moving over to prop herself on the desk as is her norm, Rogue folded her arms across her chest and raised a brow, studying him carefully.

"I wasn't needed here at all." Was the conclusion she came to after going over everything that's happened. "You're afraid I'll be in danger if I go home."

"Four dead bodies with connections to vampires isn't something I care to take chances with." He admitted, nearly squirming under her no nonsense gaze. "We haven't exactly kept our association a secret and I publicly claimed you the other night at that dive. You could be the next target on this killer's list."

"A claim I refuted." She pointed out, loosening up a little at his honesty.

Eric just shook his head. "I have a feeling that's not going to matter. While the first two women consorted with vampires these last two dead preyed on them. I don't think whoever is doing this has a hard-and-fast rule about who dies except that they have dealings of some sort with the undead."

After turning things over in her mind, she smiled one of her wicked grins.

"Good." Was all she said, refusing to tell him anything more.

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to ignore everything I just said and go poke at the hornet's nest that is Bon Temps?" He teased her, pulling her down into his lap and mock-biting at her neck with his dull human teeth.

"Because you're not a stupid vampire." She teased back, leaning into him for a long moment. "Pretty but not stupid."

Growling over her emasculating description, he bit down on her neck with more force, threatening to break skin.

"Now how am I gettin' home?" She asked, kissing his neck in turn. "You takin' me back to my bike or am I gonna have to use my awesome superpowers to get there?"

"Will you come back and spend the night at my place or am I going to have to hunt you down?" He countered.

"Hmm," she grinded her ass against him a teasing moment. "I think you like the idea of hunting me."

"I am a predator." He whispered before using his fangs to bite delicately at her ear lobe. "I love the chase."

"In that case…" She cast him a flirtatious glance from under her lashes as she hopped up off his lap. "I'll come to your house when I've finished my business back home. Stirrin' up hornet's nests and whatnot. I'll have the chasing for another night when we have more time."

Reaching into his pocket he tossed her the keys to his baby.

"We close at three." He said giving her a burning glance filled with wicked promise. "Try and take care of her for me."

With a mischievous wink, Rogue sauntered out the door, making sure to put extra sway into her hips just to torment him.

*l*l*l*l*

Reclining back in his office chair, Eric enjoyed the view before picking up his phone and placing the call he's been dreading to make. Listening to it ring he fiddled with his pen, sitting up when with a click the recipient picked up.

"Magister." Came the deep sonorous voice of Magnus.

"Magnus, Northman." Eric said. "I have a serious problem."

"With one of the cases you're bringing before me?" Magnus felt his eyebrows shoot straight to his hairline at the unexpected words from his old friend. There's little in this world that would signify as a "serious problem" to the Northman.

"No." Eric stared absently at the poster on the opposite wall. "I've found evidence that my Queen is dealing in vampire blood."


	17. Chapter 16

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_Naughtiness featuring Eric/Rogue and Remy/Sookie inside. Also contains Rogue stirring up trouble in Bon Temps and Eric digging for more information on Rogue's many mutations._

**Chapter Sixteen**

After listening to her messages on speaker while she put Eric's "baby" through its paces on her way back to Bon Temps, Rogue knew where to find Remy and her cousin…as well as the beehive she's going to kick over. But first she needed to get dressed in something sure to scandalize the "good people" of her new community and more importantly – that's clean and fits.

Hearing Logan's voice on her phone made her scowl for a quick moment. It seemed Remy was even more of a tattletale than she's though. The Wolverine would be crashing into Bon Temps and causing trouble within a week. Great. Just what she needs while she's trying to settle into her new relationship…or whatever this is.

_A creature of your Eric's standing would not give a woman a gift or try and protect her as he has you if all he wanted was your presence in his bed, my dear. _The other Erik's voice sought to soothe her recurring concerns over what _exactly_ this thing she has going on with the vampire is.

_Buckethead's right_. Logan growled. _That thing around your neck ain't just for your protection. It's a mark of ownership. Yer his and he's lettin' everybody know it. 'Sides. _He grunted. _The other me ain't gonna cause that many problems for ya. He's just worried 'bout ya is all._

_I know. _She thought back, sending them warmth and appreciation for their efforts. _But he's still going to be a complication._

Pulling into her driveway Rogue paused a moment, catching an unfamiliar scent coming from the grounds – including the porch where she was also getting hints of aroused Sookie-and-Remy. Eww. She wrinkled her nose. Thankfully she didn't smell any…well…_fluids_ or she'd be readin' Remy the riot act for defiling her cousin in public.

_Do you recognize that?_ She asked Wolverine. _It's sweat heavy. Lots of excitement and frustration but there's an undertone I don't recognize._

_That's because you've never been around it before. _He growled back, understanding in a primitive way what the befouling undertone was. _That's madness, kit. Pure bloodlust and insanity. Your serial killer was stalkin' your house._

Growling herself at the information, she entered her home rushing upstairs to throw on a clean lace bra-and-panty set in emerald green that she thought Eric would love tearing off of her – _going to have to buy stock in La Perla _she thought absently – plus a fresh set of black leather pants and an emerald green halter top that bared most of her midriff. Finishing her look with a pair of emerald earrings with a stud and several emerald-bedecked dangles, she slipped her feet into a pair of stunning four-inch emerald heels and elbow-length black silk gloves.

Dusting on some bronzer, mascara, and a berry gloss she called it good enough and sped back out the door.

If leather and silk plus a cherry-red Corvette doesn't make enough of an impression, nothing will.

*l*l*l*l*

Arriving at the party at Merlotte's – apparently Sookie's redheaded co-worker just got engaged to Jason's Cajun friend – Rogue was pleasantly surprise by the overall good mood everyone was in…apart from a few sideways glances at her attire and her method of arrival that is.

"Roguey!" Catching sight of his friend from across the dance floor, Remy hauled Sookie after him as he rushed over to greet her. "Where ya been, _cher_?"

Well aware of all the eyes upon them, Rogue answered in a voice guaranteed to carry.

"Makin' up with Eric." She said with a smirk as Remy shot her a teasing glance from under his shades.

"Knew dat big blonde be up to no good wit mah _cher._" Remy joked, thinking about the burning glances the two were trading a couple nights ago. Looking her up and down he noticed that not only was his Roguey lookin' good she was lookin' _satisfied. _About damn time in his opinion although M'sieur Claws is going to throw a hissy fit when he finds out his girl is growin' up. "You ok?" Was all he asked.

Rogue just gave him a smug grin, eyeing the way he's clamped onto her cousin like a limpet.

"I'm amazin'." She said, teasing him right back. "But maybe I should be askin' Sookie that, seein' as how I smelled somethin' mighty interestin' when I was at mah house just now."

Blushing bright red to beat a lobster, Sookie edged in between the two friends before they made her light headed from havin' all her blood in her face.

"Play nice." She hissed beneath her breath. "We're at a party, don't go makin' scenes."

Sobering Rogue glanced around before tugging Sookie gently but firmly away. Once they were out of earshot of the more ardent eavesdroppers, she turned to look at her cousin and the ever-present Remy.

"Speakin' of scenes." She cleared her throat. "I might be makin' one tonight. I wanna try and flush out the killer, before he goes after anyone else."

Sookie caught on at once.

"You're going to make some kind of big scene over your vampire and you want me to listen and see if I pick anything up." She said shrewdly.

"That's pretty much the plan." Rogue shrugged as Remy gave her a heated stare over the top of Sookie's head. "Even if you don't "hear" anything word travels fast in this town and it will get back to whoever's doin' this. I'd rather they come after me than someone who doesn't stand a chance."

"Remy don' like you makin' yourself bait, _ma chere_." Remy crossed his arms firmly over his chest. "Your Eric know what you be plannin' ta do?"

"He's aware that I'm going to try and stir things up." She scowled at her friend. "He doesn't own me you know. I can do things without his permission."

"Sure. Remy knows dat." He nodded good-naturedly. "But do he?"

Rogue turned to see what Remy was pointing at, not surprised to see the large muscled figure of her vampire striding through the crowd, no doubt in search of her. She just gave Sookie a firm glance.

"Remember what you're supposed to do." Was all she said before moving to intercept him.

"Eric," before she could say anything else he took her mouth in a heated kiss, scooping her up in his arms. After a long moment she leaned back, panting. "What was that for?"

"I missed you." Eric cast her a hot glance from his icy blue eyes. "And it's looking like I have to leave sooner than I thought to deal with some business. I wanted to collect you so we could spend the night together before I go."

_Well._ She thought ruefully. _If that doesn't get the gossip-juices going I don't know what will._

"Sounds perfect." She gave him a bright smile before passing him his keys. "I'll be right there, I just need to say goodbye to Remy and Sookie."

Nodding, Eric moved over to the edge of the crowd, studying them with a discerning eye. It was likely that the killer was here among these humans but as with many serial killers has mastered blending in with the people of the community. It could as easily be the pastor who's been shepherding his flock for the last twenty years as it could be the redneck bigots casting dirty looks at him and his vixen.

"Anything?" Rogue asked as she moved back over to Remy and a frowning Sookie who was rubbing her forehead as Remy massaged her neck.

"It was the strangest thing." Sookie answered in a near-whisper. "Like someone lit a match to their brain. All red and black and angry."

"Rage." Remy supplied. "Remy felt it too but don' know from who. But it was pure rage."

"Thanks for tryin' anyways." Rogue said with a sigh. "At least we know for sure he's gonna come after me now. Remy?"

"Yeah, _cher_?" He asked as he rubbed one hand up and down Sookie's back, trying to still her shivers. "Y'all can use mah place tonight if you want. Just stay outta mah suite. And be careful." She tacked on after thinking a moment. "If he's that mad he might try somethin' as early as tonight or the mornin'. I don't want either of you gettin' hurt because you were in the wrong place, you hear?"

They agreed thankfully with her terms. Not that Sookie was planning on doing anything that required such privacy…but still it was nice to know that if something _did_ happen Remy's cousin and her Gran weren't right down the hall.

*l*l*l*l*

At Eric's house later after he pounced on her just inside the entry, taking her in a rush against the front door, Rogue threw together a plate of fresh pasta and a "blue" steak while Eric watching in seeming fascination from the table.

"From what I understand," he said after an analyzing glance at her plates. "Women of this time are very figure conscious…yet you don't act like that."

"Is that your polite way of telling me I eat like a linebacker?" Rogue teased him, knowing full well what he's getting at.

"No, no." He back pedaled rapidly. "I'm just trying to be aware of your needs. I have to take care of my vixen, after all. She's the only one in existence."

Smiling at the over-the-top flattery inherent in his voice she gave him the information he was attempting in his clumsy-male way of unearthing.

"I have an increased metabolism." She said factually. "My copied healing factor never shuts off, constantly at work repairing environmental damage and the effects of aging. It ramps up even more when healing an actual wound or say," she shot him a lust-filled glance as she stroked one hand down her neck. "Replacing lost blood."

Eric frowned for a second at her explanation, although it's not that different from regular donors taking vitamins and supplements to help maintain their blood supply.

"How much more do you need to eat than an average person?"

"Double." She answered immediately. "Plus more if I'm wounded or came in contact with an illness of some kind." Seeing him looking pointedly at her bloody steak she laughed. "That's from a different mutation although the same source. Logan's secondary mutation is being a feral like his older brother. It's a handy package to have: increased stamina, strength, speed, and senses. They have physical mutations from being feral too, thankfully I don't have bone claws popping out every time I get irritated. But since I have so much of Logan and I got it all at such a young age his preferences had a shaping effect on some of mine. Mostly benign stuff though." She shrugged. "A beer now and again, bloody steaks, a good fight, a very occasional cigar. Nothing too bad as his vices go."

Watching her with a discerning eye as she explained and ate, Eric could see hints of what she spoke of now that he knew what to look for. Her way of moving in a smooth glide, the predatory glances she sends him when she thinks he's not looking, the faint sheen of silver he catches when the light hits her eyes just right. There's a part of her that's just as wild as the vampire in him.

Sweet Freya if it doesn't just make him want her that much more.

Throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry once she set her plate in the sink, he ignored her mock-struggles as he took her to his bed. He only had a matter of hours before he had to die for the day and she'd already made it clear that she was going to return to her home once the dawn came. Odin-only-knows how long the tribunal would drag on, and he has no plans of leaving until he's sated himself in his vixen at least a dozen times.

*l*l*l*l*

Remy jimmied with the security panel beside the doorway as Sookie watched in amused indulgence. Sure he could get in the easy way: with a finger scan and a password, Rogue having put him into the system when he helped her set it up. But he wanted to see if he could get around it and he will hardly have a better chance than this with Rogue safely tucked away in her vampire's arms for the night.

Grinning with victory as the lights went green, thinking to himself that he'll have to reset the system before Rogue gets home since it's virtually useless at the moment, Remy opened the door for his _belle _with a courtly bow.

Even the Rogue can't keep out the Prince of Thieves.

Closing and locking the door behind them with the security deadbolt – installed in case of a power outage – Remy turned and leaned back against the door, watching Sookie fidget as she stood before him in the hallway.

"You don' have ta stay wit me tonight, _belle_." He said softly. "I'm a big boy, I can wait for a _fille _as _belle _as you."

Eyes soft at his words, Sookie crossed the few feet that moments before seemed like a continent, caressing his face with one small hand before plucking his sunglasses from his face and tossing them on the hall table.

Smiling a wicked grin she learned from her cousin, Sookie set his own worries at ease.

"There's no place in this world I'd rather be tonight than here with you, Remy LeBeau."

*l*l*l*l*


	18. Chapter 17

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Chapter Seventeen**

Sookie let her eye lids flutter open as the new day's sun began peeking in through the gauzy cream silk curtains in Rogue's main guest suite. Done up in all creams and whites with hints of forest greens, it caught the early morning light and magnified it, bathing the bed in dawn's early light.

Giving her body an all-over stretch she smiled as her eyes found the lithe form of Remy – naked as the day he was born with one corner of the cream Egyptian cotton sheets tangled around his leg and hips. Reaching out her hand she gently brushed his shaggy chestnut hair from his brow, thinking about how young he looks when he sleeps without all the charm and animation that usually makes up his every expression. Feeling her human needs making themselves known, Sookie crept from the bed, careful not to wake him and picking up his soft cotton undershirt from the floor used it to cover her own nakedness.

Lord knows it's just plain rude to walk around someone else's house naked.

Casting one last smile towards the sleeping form now sprawled all over the bed since he has it to himself, Sookie walked softly towards the bathroom, vague thoughts of coffee and breakfast-in-bed filling her mind.

*l*l*l*l*

Humming with happiness and feeling the most delicious kind of sore, Sookie left the lights low in the kitchen as she ground the beans and set the coffee to brew before investigating the contents of Rogue's fridge. A little moue of dismay pouted on her lips as she noticed a distinct lack of vegetables in the protein-laden appliance. Spying bread, eggs, milk, and syrup she brightened.

French toast for her Cajun lover it is. She decided as she moved gracefully though the kitchen, finding the various cooking implements she would need and setting up her ingredients in a tidy line.

As she bent over to fetch the cast-iron griddle from its place in a low cupboard she felt a vague sense of disquiet at the back of her mind. Dismissing it as a lingering dread from the rage she picked up the night before, Sookie continued about her work. Leaning into the fridge to take out the needed eggs, the vague sense of disquiet became a roaring inferno of fear as that red mind crashed through her barriers again.

Before she could turn around, Sookie felt the sharp, white-hot edge of a knife slice deep into her side.

*l*l*l*l*

Rounding the staircase on silent feet, Remy let out a soundless little whistle as the smell of fresh-brewed coffee teased his nose.

His _belle_ woke him when she climbed out of bed but he let her have some time for herself, guessing correctly that his sweet Southern belle would need a few moments to take care of her needs without being bothered by a man. But when she moved downstairs and began to make the wonderful sounds of an early breakfast, Remy couldn't restrain himself any longer and went in search of his _belle _Sookie.

The sight that met his eyes as he came into the kitchen had him cursing the air blue as he charged a pair of cards and threw them directly at his Sookie's attacker just as he slid the knife home. Startled by the attack and clearly not expecting anyone to come to the aid of his latest target, the man hightailed it with explosions for Remy's cards chasing him all the way from the house.

More concerned with the health of his _belle _than that of the madman.

"_Mère de Dieu," (Mother of God.)_ Remy picked up her head that was bleeding sluggishly from where it hit the slate floor when she fell and placed it gently on his lap as he lifted the shirt she was wearing – _his_ shirt – to check her still-bleeding wound. "You're gonna be alright, _mon petit amour, _my little love." He swore fervently as he pressed down firmly on the deep gash to stop the bleeding. "You're gonna be alright."

*l*l*l*l*

Zipping up her driveway on her reclaimed bike, Rogue felt the most wonderful sense of languor filling her from top to bottom. Eric spent the night showing her just what he's learned about giving pleasure over the last thousand years and after having all of that experience lavished solely upon her, she's suddenly seeing the upside to being with a creature that's spent centuries acting like a man-slut.

All that practice hones some serious _skills_ when it comes to the bedroom. And the kitchen. And the stairs. And…

_Anyway_. She shook off her bemused reverie, kicking down the kickstand and climbing off of her bike. As she removed her helmet – an accessory more due to not wanting to get pulled over than of any actual use – Rogue's excellent mood plummeted as she got the fresh scent of the killer coming from all around her. Narrowing her eyes in rage, Rogue tossed the helmet onto the seat and sped towards her front door. Taking in the jimmied security panel and the broken dead bolt, she moved stealthily into her home.

Her sensitive nose picked up the overwhelming scent of fresh blood and violence as her ears picked up Remy's anxious voice coming from the kitchen.

Running at top speed, Rogue blazed a trail into the kitchen, no longer concerned with wherever the killer might be.

She has more important things to see to at the moment.

Rogue's piercing, ice-cold gaze took in the scene at a glance: the open fridge, the spilled eggs, the limp and pale form of Sookie upon the ground, and Remy holding tightly to her, applying pressure firmly to her wound.

Keeping her head – for the moment subduing the burgeoning rage inside of her – Rogue quickly dialed 911 and gave a description of the situation, asking for an ambulance immediately. Staying on the line as instructed, she shared a glance with Remy before taking over keeping pressure on Sookie's wound, her heightened strength being a better bandage than Remy's shaking hands.

Taking a swift look at the knife wound as they switched, Rogue's words soothed the panic that was steadily rising in the others.

"It's deep." She said after a glance. "But it's clean and positioned about as well as could be. I doubt it hit anything at all, just muscle and fat. You'll be just fine, Sookie." She smiled at her pale-faced but calm cousin. "Did you get a look at him?"

"No." The word was a whisper. "It was too fast. I was making breakfast and then there was pain and then Remy was there. He chased him off." Sookie tilted her head back slightly to give her hero a wondering look. "You saved me." She directed the last words to the shaking mutant.

"_Non_." Remy said, eyes tearing for a moment before he recaptured something like his normal calm. "I didn' save ya, _belle_. It my fault he got in. Jus' had to see if I could get round Roguey's security. Stupid." He spat. "It my fault you layin' here, _belle._"

"Remy." Rogue looked at him fiercely although her voice was as pleasant as could be. "Shut the fuck up. He would've come after me either way. If it's anyone's fault – besides that crazy motherfucker – it's mine. I baited him and then told y'all you could stay here."

"If you guys could stop playin' the blame game." Sookie gasps as a shot of pain sliced up her side. "That would be good. I'm still alive, aren't I? I'd say that puts me ahead for the morning."

*l*l*l*l*

"Ms. Stackhouse will be fine." Later that morning Rogue stood alongside Remy, Jason, and Ms. Adele plus Tara and Lala to hear the verdict on Sookie's condition. "She's a little banged up from when she fell, possible concussion that we want to keep an eye on, but the worst wound – the laceration from the knife – is clean and as long as there's no infection and she rests to keep the stitches from tearing, she should make a full recovery." Bidding the eclectic group goodbye the doctor turned on his squeaky shoes, leaving the family and friends alone.

"Thank God." Adele said heartily as she clasped one hand to her heart, the other holding onto Jason for dear life.

As Jason and Sookie's friends gathered around Ms. Adele, Remy cornered Rogue as she made to leave the room.

"_Qu'est-ce que tu fais?" (What are you doing?) _Remy hissed too low for the others to hear. _"Ta famille a besoin de toi ici." (Your family needs you here.)_

"_J'ai encore son sang sur mes mains." (I still have her blood on my hands.) _She hissed back. _"Je vais faire ce que je fais de mieux. Tuer ce fils de pute." (I'm going to do what I do best. Kill that son of a bitch.)_

"You think that's what Sookie would want?" Remy chastised her, no trace of his accent anywhere in his voice. "She's a soft soul. She wouldn't condone you killing the devil himself over her."

Rogue just bared her teeth at him in wordless threat.

"You stay here and take care of your woman." She hissed. "I'm going to take care of this one way or another. Before anyone else gets hurt."

Whirling Rogue sped from the hospital waiting area, thinking furiously. That scent. That damned scent. She's smelled traces of it around town, here and there, but it kept prodding incessantly at her memory. Besides at her house she's picked it up strongly before.

If only she could remember where!

Resigning herself to a hunt, she cranked up her bike, peeling away from the regional hospital.

She has work to do.

*l*l*l*l*

Eric flew through the night sky, bothered by the message his vixen left him. He knows that she can handle herself, she's proven that several times with vampires and mutants. But part of him is still…unsettled over the thought of her hunting a serial killer on her own. When he agreed with her baiting the creature he thought that he would be there somehow to protect her.

A foolish thought apparently since Rogue has made it abundantly clear that while she appreciates the _offer_ of protection she's much less enthusiastic about actually _being_ protected. She's no hothouse rose to be coddled, more like the alpine poppies that grow wild in his native Norway – beautiful and tough as nails.

Landing outside of Magnus's private jet sitting in one of the hangers at Chennault International Airport in southwestern Louisiana, Eric climbed the steps of the plush plane that shuttles the Magister for North America from one point to the next as he presides over cases and hands down judgments. Knocking on the hatch, he was surprised when Magnus opened it himself instead of one of his lackeys.

"Come in, Northman." Magnus waved his hand in a grand gesture. "We have much to discuss prior to our engagement tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow?" Eric arched a brow. "Why the delay?"

"In light of the confidential information you passed along," Magnus sat in one of the comfortable lounge chairs, indicating that Eric should sit. "Regarding multiple blood offenses I thought it would be prudent to send out a few of my better investigators to look into matters under the cover of researching my current docket." Magnus gave Eric a grim smile. "After all, who knows when I'll be out this way on legitimate business again and given the nature of the crimes we're dealing with I prefer to use discretion in this case."

"That would be wise, Magnus." Eric nodded before waving off his friend's offer of a drink. "Sophie-Anne is notoriously unpredictable."

"What I don't understand." Magnus let his exasperation show. "Is why you don't just tear her little ginger head from her shoulders and be done with it." He threw his hands up in a Gallic expression that betrayed his origins. _"Erue diadema coma." (Pluck that crown from her head.)_

Eric rolled his eyes. One thing Magnus has never understood about his friend Godric or Godric's progeny is their lack of ambition to rule as kings. It was a constant source of contention for years until the two of them finally agreed to become Sheriffs.

"I was a King once, remember?" Eric asked mockingly. "I know what running a monarchy entails and I've no desire to so confine myself for the rest of my existence."

Magnus scoffed. "You were a barbarian King consumed with conquest. That is hardly the same thing."

Eric shot him a hard glance in a clear command to drop the subject. The eight-hundred year old Magister sat back in his chair, acknowledging that he'll stop prodding at that tender area. Less than a handful of vampires know of Eric's true origins and three of the five are from his immediate bloodline with Magnus being the forth and a rarely-spoken of oracle the fifth.

"Technically," Magnus brought the meeting back on track. "The information you gave me could be looked upon as treason. However only you and I are aware of how I came by it and it's going to stay that way. The Blood is Sacred." Magnus said reverently. "I will not allow this infantile queen's blood offenses to stand unpunished."

"I thought you might feel that way." Eric said idly. "You might also consider looking into her "former" procurer Bill Compton. He relocated to my area and managed to break a dozen rules in doing so. I can't but help to wonder at the timing of having a devout servant of the queen entering a community and then finding evidence of blood-trade within a matter of weeks later."

"Quite." Magnus agreed shortly, Compton and his Maker having been on his shit list for years following some of their more public and bloody escapades.

Moving on they began discussing the sentencing for Malcom and his nest in addition to LongShadow.

"You'll have to be there, of course." Magnus said offhand. "You can die for the day here with me and then make your way to the tribunal site at sunset. Especially with the more…creative punishments I'll be handing down for Malcolm and LongShadow. It seems Sophie-Anne has failed to distill a proper fear of Authority in her subjects. An oversight I am more than willing to correct."

*l*l*l*l*

Rogue waited up for hours hoping for a phone call, a text, a telegram, _something_ from Eric to let her know he's ok, that he's coming back soon.

But of course, she waited in vain.

For weeks she's been going through the motions, letting one thing after another keep her distracted from the blooming emptiness that drove her from her home in New York and threatened to devour her. Eric was the most effective distraction of them all with his burning eyes and wicked smile. Maybe something about embracing the monster in him kept her from facing the monster in herself.

Proving how in tuned she was with Rogue's thought, the Phoenix's cage rattled with fury. Her own personal monster under the bed only ten times more terrifying than any apparition. She'd meant what she said to Magneto at Fangtasia. The Phoenix _was_ like a child throwing a tantrum when she broke out of the bonds Xavier placed upon her. But Rogue still thinks Logan said it best: _"When you cage a beast, the beast gets angry."_

At least trapped within Rogue's mind Marie has monsters of her own to keep the Phoenix contained. Part of her wishes that she wasn't so vindictive. At first re-imprisoning the creature that once was Jean Gray was about containment, limiting the damage she could do before she went nuclear. It was more than Rogue could stand: asking Logan to kill the woman he loved. So Rogue picked up that cross to bear in his stead. But by the time Rogue had enough control and enough strength to purge the Phoenix completely…well.

By then she found out that rather than killing her beloved mentor the Phoenix murdered her erstwhile father.

And that was something Rogue simply could not abide.

If she was better, if she was really the person that Xavier had hoped for her to be, she would let the Phoenix go. She would let her be at peace.

But then…what purpose would Rogue have left to serve?

Infatuated vampire lover or not, all Rogue really has is a handful of friends and a couple of cousins. In time she won't even have that. In another fifty years all she'll have left on this earth is Logan and Victor, it already being a foregone conclusion as far as she's concerned that Eric will lose interest in her.

He's a thousand year old Viking vampire that didn't even do monogamy as a human. In time her exoticness and allure will fade and she'll be back to running around the world with Logan and Victor. Maybe they'll be their own little pack and run wild for a time, until the next major crises arraises.

Without needing to keep the Phoenix under control…is that really all she has left?

Feeling herself starting to get caught up in the spiral that always ends in some sort of reckless behavior just to prove she's actually alive and not just going through the motions, Rogue tucked herself in between her sapphire silk sheets, toying with the torc that lays warmed from her body against her neck.

Against her better judgment, Rogue let herself hope, if only for a moment, that Logan and Erik were right and that her Eric's intentions towards her were of the permanent kind and not the fleeting affections of a legendary playboy.

For the night, she let herself hope.


	19. Chapter 18

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_**Rogue takes out Sheriff Dearbourne when he attempts to rape and kill her. Turns over the Sheriff to the FBI who've claimed jurisdiction on the case. Eric comes back from the tribunal.**_

**Chapter Eighteen**

_You don't have to do this, kid._ Logan whispered in her mind as she paces silently before the roaring fire in her library fireplace. _There's other ways this can be handled. You don't always have to take on the monsters all alone._

_Sometimes it takes a monster to trap a monster. _She whispered back, heart breaking over the decision she's made. _You taught me that, Logan. And I'm the only one available this time._

_The cretin is right, my dear. _Erik's sonorous tones danced across her mind. _You have other options. You're not as alone as you like to think._

_That's enough._ She shut them and their attempts to sway her down. _I set the trap. I baited the pressure switch. I have to flip the lever and face the aftermath._

As she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror she paused for a long moment taking in her reflection. The woman in the glass held little in common with the scared girl Logan found in his truck all those years ago. Besides the natural progression of aging – well up until she stopped aging – that showed more in the expression on her face and in how she carried herself, each major absorption left a mark upon her. Erik gave her the white stripes that poured from her widow's peak. Logan blessed her with the tinge of silver hiding behind her eyes and the predatory grace of her movements.

But the Phoenix left as big a scar on her body as she did on her soul, turning her once dark brown hair into a flaming auburn except where Erik had left his mark.

Knowing her task for the night, Rogue dressed without her usual fanfare, choosing instead a simple pair of knit cotton pants in black with a matching long-sleeved cotton top with her hair pulled back into a simple braided bun and soft black heel-less boots upon her feet.

No gloves.

Tonight it was time for the monster haunting Bon Temps to meet his match and learn what real fear is.

Stepping out onto her porch she looked up at the moon shining brightly in the sky, wondering for a fleeting moment if Eric was watching the stars as she was getting ready to face off with a murderer. A silly fantasy, but one that helped steel her as she took in a deep breath searching for that one particular scent on the wind. Finding it she smiled a chilling smile as she turned in the opposite direction of town a loped into the woods, passing the place where the crouched form huddled in the underbrush without so much as a glance.

The bright moon would shine on her clear ivory skin as she passed in and out of pockets of shadow, making her easy to track for a hunter like the one that follows her. Too bad that instead of the he must think her to his cat, she was a wolf who was about to eat his little kitty for dinner.

Slipping silently around a large tree, she leapt up into the concealing braches without a sound, watching avidly for her prey to show himself. It was time for the hunter to become the hunted.

As the smallish male form stepped into the light, Rogue nearly fell from the tree in surprise. Now this was a curious turn of events and one that made her glad of the call she placed yesterday afternoon once she tracked the killer's scent to a centralized location. There were some things even she would have a hard time explaining and killing _this_ man was one of them.

Leaping from the tree in an effortless pounce she landed softly in a crouch on all fours directly behind him. As he stiffened at the sound of leaves crackling under her feet, she spoke.

"I really thought it was Andy." She said, eyes shining an eerie silver in the moon light. "As hard a time as he gave Jason and as disdainful he's been towards me and my cousins I was sure it was him. Nice to know I can still be surprised."

Ripping into his mind with all the strength of Jean's power behind her, she dug and dug until she found exactly what she needed to turn this foul excuse of a human being into a blubbering, confessing, _mess_ of a man.

Shifting her face and clothes, Rogue took on the appearance, mannerisms, and voice of his mother the late Mrs. Dearbourne.

Sheriff Bud Dearbourne stumbled back, scrambling along the ground as the demon wearing his mother's face sauntered towards him.

Calling up the hateful memories locked inside his mind, Rogue found the words spilling from her mouth in another's voice:

"_You filthy little beast." Her eyes were ice cold as she studied the pathetic cowering form before her. "You vile disgusting cretin. I should have cut you from my belly before I expelled your nastiness into this world."_

Broken by the visions Rogue is forcing through his mind, Bud collapsed into a quivering mass on the ground, sobbing into his bloodstained hands.

"I'm sorry, Mother." He sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'll be good, I swear I will. Please don't lock me away again, _please_."

Ignoring the feeling of pity that welled up inside of her at the effect his own memories were having upon him, remembering the four known dead and how many more unknown bodies this man left in his wake all out of his desire to be something more than the foul creature his mother branded him, Rogue continued.

"_Sorry?" She scoffed. "I'll show you sorry. I'm sorry that I ever bore such a miserable excuse for a man into this world."_

"I'm sorry, Mother, I'm sorry." Was all he could say, repeating the same phrase over and over again. "I didn't mean to kill those girls, I'm sorry."

Having gained his confession, Rogue stopped the play of memories running through the whimpering man's mind and shifted back into her own form, clicking the button to stop recording on the phone hidden in a pocket on her top. Reaching down she touched him for the barest of seconds, needing names and locations of the bodies of his other victims while having the side effect of knocking him out. Plucking him from his crumpled position she dragged him by the collar back to her house.

Gaining the yard she gave the all-clear signal and waited for the Calvary to arrive. Sighing she folded her arms across her chest as the plain unmarked cars roared to a stop, lights flashing in the night, bare inches from her standing position.

"Agent Coulson." She greeted the F.B.I. cum S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Working quickly she transferred the information from her cell to a micro-flash drive and tossed it to him. "There's his confession. Once y'all are off of my property I'll forward you a list of all the unmarked graves that are his handiwork. The good Sheriff has quite the body count to his name."

"This really isn't a S.H.I.E.L.D. matter," Phil pointed out as he caught the small device, motioning for one of the other agents to detain the unconscious form of the Sheriff.

"Consider handing him over to your former employer as a professional courtesy." She suggested, restraining the need to scrub at her eyes. Now that it's over she felt like she needed to take a bath with bleach and take lava to her brain. This absorption has left a stain all the purging in the world won't completely remove.

"To the F.B.I.?" Phil laughed at that. The Rogue hates feds more than most mutants. Too many attempts to "recruit" her whether she liked it or not, attempts that only stopped when her personal wealth and business interests were discovered.

"To me." She clarified. "You never know when having the Rogue in your corner could come in handy."

*l*l*l*l*

After forwarding the list of locations to Agent Coulson's email, Rogue set to scrubbing every inch of her body. Even though he never laid a hand on her she had him in her head for as briefly as it lasted and her body had a visceral reaction to his particular brand of evil.

The product of a rape, Bud Dearbourne was raised by a disgraced Southern belle in a time that wasn't kind to unwed mothers or rape victims. And she took it out on her son, twisting him into something disturbed before Bud even had a chance at anything close to normal. He never really had a shot at being anything other than exactly what his mother labeled him: a foul, twisted beast.

As the water at last ran cold, Rogue toweled herself off, leaving her hair down to dry into its normal mass of curls. Weary to her soul, she slipped on a tiny pair of yoga shorts and comfy silk tank in somber gray. Taking the cuff from her arm she shifted it back into a dangling necklace, making the tags and charm dance and chime in the air as she stroked one hand down her torc, rubbing her thumb over one of the large square-cut emerald on the end pieces.

_Not all monsters go bump in the night, kid. _Logan reached out once again, this time in the mental-equivalent of a hug. _Humans do more fucked up shit every single day to each other than us freaks of nature they like to blame everything on._

_I know. _She whispered back, taking the tokens in hand and hugging them to her chest as she sat curled in one of her big chairs before her library fire. _I can make my head understand that. But even when I was inside his head bringing it all to the front, even when I had part of him inside me, I still couldn't wrap my heart around what all his mother did to him to break him like that. How could any mother do that?_

_Evil things are done every day by the so-called "good people" of this world, child. _Erik joined her and Logan as was his want. _Evil things are made no less evil because they sprang from a good intention or from an otherwise good person. Evil just is. You taught me that, child._

Smiling through the tears pouring silently down her face, Rogue pressed a heartfelt kiss to Logan's tag before shifting the gift back into the bicep cuff. Thankfully her powers allowed her to craft it specifically to her arm so that she could keep it one at all times along with Eric's gift. With all the evil she just subjected herself to she has absolutely no intention of absorbing anyone for the foreseeable future. Better that any potential threats be scared out of their wits by her protectors than she have to deal with them herself at this point.

At a knock on the door, Rogue wiped away her tears then climbed to her feet wondering who it might be. Everyone was warned to stay well away from her house and woods tonight, in case the killer would stumble upon them and do them harm like with Sookie. The only one who would dare is Remy and he's firmly ensconced with Sookie as the doctors decided to keep her another night earlier that afternoon.

Moving over to the security panel, her system restored to its functional state the previous afternoon before she went hunting for the killer's scent and found it lingering around the police station, Rogue brought up the camera pointed to the door, feeling her eyebrows shoot straight up into her hairline at who the live feed revealed was on her porch.

Rushing to the door she flung it open then pounced on the relaxed form of Eric.

"I didn't think I'd get to see you tonight." She said breathlessly after a long, tongue twining kiss. Feeling a rush of emotions she stroked her hands down his buttery-soft leather jacket, linking her hands with his and tugging him inside the house, shutting the door with her foot.

"I meant to be back yesterday." He admitted. "But the tribunal was delayed."

Tugging off his jacket she hung it up in the hall closet like a proper Southern hostess before leading him up the stairs to her suite, absently using Pyro's copied power to bank the flames in the library as she passed. Eric noted the sudden change in the fire as they walked past the doorway but filed it away to ask about another time.

His plans for the evening most certainly do _not_ include another question-and-answer session regarding her powers. Eyeing her delectable ass in those tiny shorts, he grinned wolfishly. They _definitely_ don't include a long drawn-out discussion about anything except how hard she wants him to fuck her.

"How did it go?" She asked absently as she stripped him of his shirt and belt once they were in her room. As her nimble hands moved to his button fly he answered, peeling the thin tank over her head as he did so.

"LongShadow's been returned to his Maker and fined. He's also banished from my area for the next century." Eric toyed with the lace edging on her demi-cup bra before stripping it from her. "Diane and Liam are both spending a year in silver-wrapped coffins for causing a public outcry. Malcolm was sentenced to the same except upon his release he's being delivered to me for my own meting out of punishment for assaulting my human."

That was the last thing either of them said for a long time.

*l*l*l*l*

They were cuddling in her bed, when Eric felt the coming sunrise was only a half-hour away.

"I have to go, vixen." He said apologetically. "Your rooms aren't light-tight."

Rogue just gave him a devilish grin and tugged him from the bed, bidding him to follow her. Intrigued, Eric pulled on his black designer jeans, eyeing her as she slipped back into her shorts and tank sans underwear. Pacing steadily behind her, Eric was shocked to say the least when she followed her through an extremely well-hidden door in her entryway and then down a flight of stairs to another door set in a solid concrete wall that had silver and iron veining it.

Watching her go through even heavier security precautions than those she has on the rest of the house, Eric began to get that excited feeling he usually only got over a good fight or a particularly delectable fuck. His vixen was letting him get a peek at the inner Rogue, giving him a look into her life outside her public face and it…excited him to say the least.

"My birth father had a beehive of underground levels and rooms." Rogue commented as she opened the door. "There's a warren of egress routes and passages running through the Manor. I learned to appreciate them not only for the ability to keep secret things _secret_, but they kept me from getting captured during a military raid on the school."

Waving him in she closed and engaged the locks behind them.

"So I built my own underground suite." She shrugged sheepishly. "Remy calls it my lair."

Eric just gave a whistle as he looked around the sprawling hive of rooms beneath her already large home. At first glance he saw the security center for the complex behind bulletproof glass walls and an airlock door, a practice mat for sparring and exercise, and a fully stocked and supplied kitchen. He assumed that there was also a bedroom and bathroom down here as well.

"Down that hall is the living quarters." Rogue confirmed his thoughts with a wave as they moved farther into the room. "Down that way is a holding cell," she ignored the raised brow from her lover over that little tidbit. "Through those double doors is my training area for my powers." She shot him a firm, serious look. "If that light," she pointed to the box above the doors. "Is red, don't you ever go through those doors. White is fine, red is death."

Eric finally asked a question that's been picking at his brain for weeks.

"Could you kill me with your powers?" He asked seriously.

"I could kill anyone with my powers." She said baldly. "It doesn't matter how strong or powerful they are, with my powers…yes I could kill you."

"I'm going to need a rundown on your powers before too much longer, vixen." He gave her a patient look.

"I know, I know." She said with a sigh. "There's a lot we still haven't talked about. But for now," she waved her hand towards a slightly discolored panel beside her wall display of swords. "Through there is the egress route that will lead you outside the house and onto the grounds."

Eric walked over to the swords hanging on the wall, running his hand appreciatively down one razor sharp blade. Seeing a pair of Japanese katanas made from the same strange metal as Rogue's cuff, he picked one up, testing the edge with his thumb. To his shock and surprise the blade cut him.

"What is this?" He asked watching as his wound refused to heal immediately. After several minutes the wound finally closed, at which point he set the sword back on its holder and stared into Rogue's deep green eyes. "What kind of metal is that, Rogue?"

"It's called adamantium." She answered, taking his hand and leading him into a bedroom that's nearly identical to the one above stairs. "It's indestructible once it hardens. The only ones who can manipulate it once it has hardened are Metalkinetics of some power like Magneto. It's exceedingly rare." She added as an aside. "I have it reinforcing my bunker."

"Hmm." Eric just hummed under his breath as he felt the pull of the dawn. Already ideas for the metal were pouring through his mind. It didn't burn like silver but could seriously harm or even kill a vampire if the wielder knew what they were doing.

Pulling his head down into a long sweet kiss, Rogue undressed them both and got them into bed before the morning took its toll on her lover.

As he faded into his daily death with her snuggled up beside him, the new metal and all its wonderful uses were far from his mind, instead thinking of her and bonding.

*l*l*l*l*

_A/N: Ok I really didn't like Sheriff Dearbourne's character. At all. And I did like Rene until he turned into a murdering psycho. So Rene gets a reprieve and Bud gets the axe. Also we're closing in on Godric's introduction and Eric has some pretty significant intentions as far as Rogue goes._


	20. Chapter 19

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: This is the longest chapter yet since it is the only update for today. Lots of Eric-and-Rogue time in this one._

**Chapter Nineteen**

Remy woke from his cramped position sitting in a chair at Sookie's bedside when he felt a hand stroke gently through his shaggy hair. Cracking open his eyes, he gave Sookie's flawless face a soft look from his demon eyes.

"Hey there." She said in her sweet voice. "Did you sleep slumped over like that all night?"

Reaching over he took her hand not petting him and gave it a gentle kiss. "_Non,_" he said in his rough morning voice. "Not _all_ night." Just most of it. He couldn't sleep until he got word from Rogue that she either caught – his _hope_ – or killed – his _fear_ – the murderer. Which came down to him not sleeping for the last two days as Sookie was kept under observation at the hospital.

"Remy," she chastised him with a glance that tried but failed to be firm. He's just been wonderful the last two days – no the last two _weeks_ – making it impossible for her to stay mad or frustrated with him for any length of time. Something she already knows he's going to take shameless advantage of. "You need rest. Real rest. Not slumped-over-my-hospital-bed rest."

"Dere releasin' you dis mornin'," he reminded her. "When you home an' safe Remy will rest."

Sookie fidgeted, taking her hand from his hair and plucking at the rough cotton blanket.

"Did Rogue call?" She asked, avoiding his gaze. She'll never feel safe, not even in her own home, as long as that man is still out there. The things she saw in his mind as he stabbed her…she shuddered.

"_Oui_," Remy said with a grimace. "She caught de _connard_," (_motherfucker)_ "An' turned 'im over to de feds."

"Who…?" She trailed off seeing the concern in Remy's gaze. The look he gave her gave her pause. Shivering she knew she's not going to like the answer but she asked the question anyway, hoping that she was strong enough to take it after twenty-some years of hearing every little thing that runs through people's heads. "Who was it?"

"De Sheriff." Remy said at last, knowing this was going to likely shred her faith in both others and her gift. "Bud Dearbourne." He just sat in silence, keeping his peace as he let her process that a pillar of the community and one of her Gran's oldest friends was a serial killer and rapist.

After a long several minutes had ticked by, Sookie finally found words again after dealing with the initial shock of his statement.

"She's sure?" She asked in a daze. "I mean…" She trailed off, eyes focused on some point beyond the room. "Sheriff Dearbourne can be kinda prejudiced but I never thought…_he_ never thought…"

"Men like dat, _belle_." Remy captured her hands and her gaze with his own. "De have ways of separatin' the ugly from de rest o' dem selves. If Roguey said it be him, den it is. 'Fore dis, he prolly had no reason to go off, least not 'round here," he qualified thinking about the list of names Rogue turned over to the feds. "But seein' it, havin' girls runnin' 'round wit vampires in his home…it be more dan he could take."

Sookie just gave a wordless sound of acknowledgement, thinking about how hard this whole thing must be on Gran now that her friend's true nature is being spread around for everyone to know and talk about. Idly stroking his thumbs across her hands, Remy let her sit and think in peace for a while before bringing up something that's been running though his mind since she was attacked.

"You decide what ya gonna do wit dat time off your bossman gave ya?" He asked innocently. Sam had stopped by the day before once Sookie was cleared for visitors and told her she had a month of to recuperate, no if-ands-or-buts about it, she wasn't to show her face in Merlotte's for any reason except havin' a meal for four weeks.

Sighing she shook her head. "I'm not meant for idleness." She admitted, chewing at her bottom lip. Leave it to Remy to give her something else to focus on and worry about. "I just can't see myself sittin' around Gran's house for the next month watchin' soaps and eatin' bon-bons, injury or no."

Remy gave a grin at her facetious description of her upcoming rest and recuperation.

"You don' have to." He scooted her over on the bed, taking her in his strong arms as she began to pout over being kept off her feet and out of trouble for the next month. "You could take a trip somewhere. You said you always wanted to travel, now's your shot."

Sookie scoffed at that suggestion. "How'm I supposed to pay for that?" She demanded. "Besides, I can't leave Gran to cover all the expenses for the house. She's on a fixed income."

"Roguey set up an account for your Gran and the house, remember?" Remy countered. "An' Remy don' mean a round-de-world trip…maybe somet'ing a little closer."

Seeing the rakish grin lighting up his handsome face, Sookie reared her head back warily. "What troubles are you cookin' up in that head of yours, Cajun?"

"Remy be t'inkin'…" He trailed off a faint blush highlighting his cheekbones. "Maybe you would wanna come to Nawlins wit me? De job here be over now…an' Remy be needin' to get back home."

"You wanna take me home with you?" Sookie asked, pleasantly shocked.

"T'ink of it like a vacation." He said hurrying to convince her before she gave him an out-and-out no. "Remy has a nice house just outside de city an' a family place in de Quarter. You wouldn' have ta worry 'bout a t'ing."

Stroking one hand down his face she snuggled back up against his chest.

"I don' wanna lose you, _belle_." He admitted softly, nuzzling her golden hair with his nose. "I came too close to dat when I held you on dat kitchen floor. Come home wit me. Jus' for a visit, no pressure."

Sookie just chuckled at the "no pressure" comment. Remy doesn't pressure. He charms, he seduces, he entices, but he doesn't pressure. No the rapscallion slips behind your defenses and steals away your heart before you even know it's in jeopardy.

"Will I meet your family?" She asked shyly. Besides her cousin, Remy, and her Gran she's never really met anyone that didn't react poorly to her "disability."

"If you wan'," Remy shifted a little uncomfortably at the thought of what Jean-Luc's reaction to his Sookie might be. But Tante Marie would love her sweet southern charm and Henri's Merci would likely dote on her. "Dere not 'xactly your normal family, _oui_?"

"Thieves." She said, eyes serious remembering that discussion very well.

"_Oui_," Remy nodded slowly. Sookie was raised "right" by her Gran and had a fierce moral code. The only reason she grew to accept his occupation was he assurances that he doesn't prey on middle-to-lower class people, just the rich-and-richer. "T'ieves."

Heaving a sigh, she laughed.

"Wha'?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"_You_ get to tell Rogue and Jason that you're sweeping me away to New Orleans." She said, holding her now-painful wound. "Gran won't mind a bit once I tell her I'm going to meet your family, but _you _get to deal with my deadly cousin and my pain-in-the-neck brother if you're going to be kidnappin' me from Bon Temps."

Thinking about Roguey's reaction Remy just groaned, burying his head in the pillow. The only reason they haven't had words about the progression of his and Sookie's relationship is all the hectic activity over the last few days. He's going to catch an earful.

Maybe if he's lucky Logan will show up early and distract her…no. Lady Luck has a soft spot for him but not even she can save him from the coming tongue-lashing.

*l*l*l*l*

An annoying buzzing woke Rogue from her blissfully nightmare-free sleep. Flailing around for a moment before she remembered where she fell asleep – and with who – she finally found the tormentor that woke her far too soon. Flicking her smartphone on, she unlocked the screen.

A text message. At eight in the morning.

Someone wants to die.

Everyone that has her number – with the exception of Eric since the rule would be meaningless to him – knew better than to call or text her before noon unless she initiated contact. _Everybody_. The only time breaking her solemn rule about waking her or otherwise disrupting her morning routine was in case of an actual emergency.

Not even Jubilee would send her a freaking _text_ about an emergency.

Growling a little, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, focusing on the message.

_Need 2 talk 2 u b4 I leave – Gambit._

Still snarling a little but glad that her friend didn't just take off on her, Rogue tapped out a quick reply before chucking her phone on the floor and falling back into bed with her Viking.

_Will b Fangtasia 2nite. C u there now go AWAY – Rogue._

Remy grimaced at Roguey's answer. He knew texting her before noon was a bad idea but Sookie insisted on at least attempting to talk to her before they left, pointing out rightly that if they just left she would hunt Remy down and hang him up by his toenails. Oh well, they could head for NOLA by way of Shreveport then.

He chuckled at the thought of his little sunflower in the midst of a vampire bar. Sobering he set his jaw as his mark finally came home from his latest hump-and-dump's house, deciding to wait to confront Jason until later. As a now-reformed manwhore Remy is well aware of how protective he himself is over his female relatives.

Yeah.

Jason _is not_ going to react well to Remy taking his sister away without her already having a ring on her finger.

He just hoped that when he swings on him Jason aims for his ribs or kidneys. He hates it when they go for the face, it always brings out the swamp rat in him.

*l*l*l*l*

Rogue woke up much more enjoyably the second time around the little tingles of desire shot up her body. Feeling someone moving over her and settling between her thighs, she opened her eyes to watch Eric kiss her just to the left of her navel before stroking his tongue along the scar on her hip.

With a wicked leer, Eric lifted his head and stared up into Rogue's sleep-dazed green eyes, loving the look of pleasure on her face and the sight of his torc around her neck. Feeling like making the most of this opportunity, he leaned down and laved the scar with another long swipe of his tongue.

"What's this from, lover?" He rumbled in his raspy early-evening voice, nibbling along the jagged white mark.

"Knife," she said absently toying with his long hair. "I was homeless for a while before Logan and I found each other. I was sixteen and someone didn't wanna hear the word no."

Eric growled before lapping at the permanent reminder of her ordeal marring her hip. "Is he dead?" Because if he wasn't yet, he's soon to be.

"Yes." She said regretfully. "My mutation killed him. He was the first person I ever killed."

Pressing one last kiss to the mark, Eric moved up her body and gave the same tender attention to the trio of scars under her breast. "And these?"

Tunneling her hands deeper into his smooth golden locks, she tugged his head up to give him a distracting kiss.

"Those are a story for another night." She said firmly.

Wrapping her arms and legs around him, Rogue set about making her vampire forget all about the scars on her body. When she wrapped her mouth around his pulsing arousal, she even made him forget his own name.

Moving upstairs after their bed play, Rogue puttered about in the kitchen making herself a large meal of pancakes, eggs over-easy, steak-tips with onions and mushrooms, and hashbrowns, that she dug into with gusto as she worked her way through a massive-sized coffee and a glass of orange juice. Taking advantage of her preoccupation, Eric checked his phone and answered any messages that required it and borrowed her laptop to answer and shoot off emails as needed. Seeing that his latest gift for his vixen had been delivered to Fangtasia as requested, Eric appraised her for a moment to decide on a plan of action.

"How do you feel about flying to the bar tonight?" He asked idly, feeling her out.

Rogue thought for a moment, trying to remember if she ever told him she could, indeed, fly. Deciding that she hadn't she cast her eyes up and down his form sprawled out in a side chair in the living room attached to her kitchen.

"Am I to take it that you can fly?" She responded at last, taking a sip of juice and watching him over the rim of the glass.

Eric just shot her a playful grin.

"Can all vampires fly?"

"Can all humans sing?" He tossed back, logging out of his sites and closing the laptop, setting it down on the coffee table that his feet were propped upon.

"Touché," Rogue said, toasting him with the last of her coffee. "How does it work then?"

"Some vampires have extra 'gifts' besides the normal heightened senses, speed, strength, the ability to glamour, and reduced vulnerability while awake." He counted off the normal vampire "cocktail" of abilities. "Those gifts can vary from flight," he tossed her a leer, "to precognition, being even stronger than the norm, etc. Mostly it depends on inherited abilities from their Maker to 'leftover' traits from their human lives."

"Which is yours?" She asked as she rinsed her dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher.

"Flying I have from my Maker," Eric smirked thinking about Pam's constant bitching over her lack of flying ability. "But Pam did not inherit it from me. I am also one of the best trackers, my sense of smell is better than most vampires. And I am an excellent swordsman but that is more from a thousand years of practice than any supernatural ability."

"Hmm," she hummed under her breath casting him a sultry glance from beneath her lashes as she sauntered over to him, extra sway in her hips enticing him. "Maybe we will have to play hide-and-seek one of these days."

Eric gave her a fang-filled grin letting her know exactly what he thought of that idea. Snagging her arm he pulled her down onto his lap.

"How did your trouble-making expedition turn out?" He asked as he nibbled lightly along her throat with his blunt human teeth.

Sobering Rogue pushed off his lap, sitting down on the coffee table next to his legs.

"He took the bait." She said with a haunted look out the front window. "Except I wasn't home. Sookie was."

Eric shot up straight, bare feet hitting the floor with a resounding thump.

"I told Remy he could use the house while I was over at your place," she shook her head, eyes tearing. "Why did I do that?" She asked rhetorically. Shaking her head to banish her tears she cast him a less-haunted but still troubled look. "She was to be released from the hospital today, Remy interrupted the killer before she was fatally harmed. And I went hunting." She finished simply.

Cupping her cheek in his hand, Eric kissed away the lone tear that tracked down her face. Resting his forehead against hers, he locked their gazes together.

"I didn't kill him." She admitted with a sigh and a shrug. "I wanted to. I really really wanted to kill him. But Sookie…" she trailed off before continuing. "She wouldn't want anyone to die over her and that's how she would've seen it."

Seeing the steel washing over her face Eric kissed her forehead then leaned back, capturing one of her hands in his.

"What _did_ you do?" What manner of creature does he have on his hands? Because he knows as surely as he knows his name that she did _something_. Rogue is not the sort of person who can just forgive and forget, she is the sort of person that takes her pound of flesh before throwing the offender to the wolves.

"I broke him." Was all she could say. "Then I gave him to the F.B.I. to handle from there. He'll never see a trial. He'll spend the rest of his days locked in a psych ward."

*l*l*l*l*

After a…vigorous shared shower in her master bath, Rogue stood covered only in the Japanese silk robe Logan brought her after one of his walkabouts, trying to decide on an outfit for Fangtasia. Eric just watched her in fascination as she stood stock-still hands on her hips before the wall of clothes in her massive closet. The torc and arm cuff coupled with the sleeveless silk made her look like a pagan goddess of old.

Huffing out a breath she threw her hands up in the air.

"Dang that Jubilee." She said crossly, pacing back to his side as he reclined on her bed. "Dressin' was so much simpler when I only owned a handful of outfits. I never shoulda let her loose in New York with my credit cards."

Combing his fingers through her drying curls, Eric gave her a look before climbing to his feet and flipping rapidly through the options. Pulling down a pair of hangers he tossed them beside her on the bed before vamp-speeding over to her lingerie chest and tossing a pair of miniscule lace thong panties on top of his other selections. Raising his brow in a wordless command, he sped back over to the shoe wall in her closet and perused the selections as she rolled her eyes and dressed.

Slipping into the emerald lace, Rogue decided he must have a thing for that color on her since all his clothes tend to be either black or shades of blue. She shimmied into the tight leather black-and-green pants with diamond-shaped cut-outs all along the sides which the now avidly-watching Eric appreciated as it made her breasts bounce delightfully. Tingling at the heated stare he was giving her, she wrapped the black leather custom-made corset around her torso, presenting her back to him for him to do up her laces.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Eric caressed her skin as he ever-so-slowly helped her into the tight top, lingering over the three scars on her back that matched the ones beneath her breast, loving the blooming scent of arousal that filled the air with his every touch. Releasing her with a kiss to the back of her shoulder he zipped over to her jewelry chest, waffling for a moment between the classic princess-cut diamond studs and the emerald dangles as she zipped up the sides of the knee-high black boots with their six-inch spiked heels. Making his decision he held out the diamonds and collected a knee-length fur-lined leather coat in black.

Giving him a quick kiss in thanks, Rogue folded the jacket over her arm as she followed him downstairs.

"What are you going to do for clothes?" She asked as a thought occurred to her.

"I keep spares in my office at the club." He said waiting patiently as she locked up and engaged the security system.

Humming under her breath she had a thought but hesitated a moment as she slipped into the coat that she bought specifically to keep her warm when she goes flying – although usually it's under her own power.

"You could keep a few things here." She offered at last, shaking off her bad-relationship scars and insecurities. "If you're going to make a habit of staying over, anyway."

Inwardly ecstatic over her taking that step of her own volition, Eric kept his face stoic as he took her in his arms and lifted off into the air.

"It would make things easier," he agreed. "And you could do the same at my homes."

Tucking her face into his chest to hide her blushingly-pleased expression, she agreed then settled in to enjoy the flight.

*l*l*l*l*

As they landed in the parking lot of Fangtasia, Rogue took note of the black Mercedes SLS Coupe parked where Eric's cherry-red Corvette always was on the nights he drove in instead of flying. Not remembering it from the last time she was in his extensive garage – Eric tends more towards collecting Corvettes and Bugattis than Benzs, she commented on it.

"Did you buy a new car, Eric? Or did someone take the big-bad-Viking's parking spot?" She teased him mercilessly over the "protection" zone he insisted on for his baby, something she found out was an actual thing during one of their post-coital chats.

"I did," he tossed her a smirk as he towed her inside to his office. In case she was going to throw a fit he'd rather have it happen in his soundproofed-and-bug-swept domain than out in the parking lot where anyone can overhear her giving him fits. Modern women often react in ways that make utterly no sense to his thousand-year-old mind. "But it's not for me."

As they entered his office, he swept her up in his arms and held her tightly on his lap as he sat down on the couch.

"It's for you."

Rogue sat there speechless in shock for a moment. Part of her was astounded by the extravagance of the gift, although her torc isn't exactly a paupers present. Another part of her was outraged by the high-handedness of it. But the part of her mind that has an ongoing love affair with German engineering was working rapidly to overrule her knee-jerk reaction to decline.

"Before I start screaming at you," she said slowly staring him in the eye to gauge his mood. "Exactly how wealthy are you?"

Eric was speechless himself for a moment. Southern women usually stray far away from any discussion of finances in his vast experience. But then, he reminded himself. The Rogue isn't any regular Southern woman.

"Wealthier than you are." Is how he decided to word it. "But not the wealthiest vampire out there although I am rather high up in that hierarchy."

"So…" she thought out loud. "You buying me a quarter-million-dollar car would be in the neighborhood of an average man buying his girlfriend a nice pair of earrings at the mall?"

He laughed outright at her comparison, finding it surprisingly apt.

"If I bought it using business funds, no." He said, shrugging once he regained his composure. "But using my personal funds? That would be a fair description. Are you going to accept it?"

"That depends." She replied, her green eyes serious on his ice blue. "On why you bought it. The torc I understand. It's both a status-symbol and a meaningful gift. But the car…"

"Ah." He nodded, following her thoughts. "You think it is purely frivolous."

"Pretty much," she gave him a little smile. "My bike gets me from a-to-b just fine and once the weather changed I planned on gettin' a car…but somthin' more along the lines of a Honda or a Ford. Not a SLS."

Setting her down he moved over to his desk and picked up the large manila envelope he spotted when he entered the office. Pulling his desk chair around to face her he handed the envelope to her.

"What's this?"

"A contract." He said, leaning forward and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "You are very powerful. Word has spread through the vampire community about the strange human woman that has been keeping company with the Northman. The contract will protect you from one of the vampires higher up in the political hierarchy from demanding I turn you over to them. I know that they would not be able to take you or keep you against your will but I do not want you to become a target for retaliation for defending yourself."

Looking up in surprise from the legal documents she was perusing, she met his sober gaze, seeing at once that he was deadly serious about the threat to her.

"Is there a way to protect me without a business contract?" She asked, heart in danger of breaking as every misgiving she's had about being with Eric came swimming to the fore. "I don't want us, _anything_ about us to be governed by a business contract."

_Using you for your power._ The Phoenix whispered insidiously.

Taking an unnecessary breath, Eric lifted her eyes back to his with a bent index finger beneath her chin, seeing all that she was trying to hide behind those emerald eyes and lowered lashes.

"There is one." He rasped, his accent thickening. "When a vampire finds a human that he or she finds particularly compelling they can create a blood bond. Three mutual blood exchanges over the course of three nights and they are bound until one of them no longer walks the earth. Normally it is done with the intent of bringing the human over…but in your case with your mutation that would not be necessary."

"It's not possible." She whispered idly as she processed what he said…and the implications of it. _Particularly compelling. Until one no longer walks the earth. _It sounded to her a lot like…marriage. Only the until death-do-you-part bit is deadly serious and not just a rose-colored vow. "I can't be turned. You could drain me dry and I would survive. I can survive anything, any wound. Only one thing can kill me and that is a secret held only by the three of us it effects."

_Victor. Me. And Logan, although he doesn't like to remember the temple or what happened there._

_The Muramasa Blades._

"So the car?" She arched a brow, shaking off her dark thoughts about the blades. "It's like either a signing bonus or an engagement gift."

"Whichever you prefer." Eric said, his face and body were completely still while his voice was utterly stoic. No hint of his own preference was allowed to show. If she rejected him, he would never allow her to know how deeply her decision cut.

That a heart that has not beat for a thousand years suddenly wanted to bleed only for her.

Tossing down the contracts, Rogue all but tackled him, sending the chair crashing back against the wall with a resounding bang! Grabbing his hair in her fists she pulled his head back as she straddled him, taking him in a blazing-hot kiss.

Taking control, Eric lunged forward with his legs, pinning her back against the couch and forcing her lips wide, making her unable to do anything but except his kiss and twine her tongue with his. Tearing away, he locked his desire-clouded gaze upon her flushed and panting face.

"It that a yes?" He asked with a knowing smirk.

"Yes, you idiot Viking." Rogue said teasing his neck with her canines before biting deep and drawing blood. With a groan Eric bucked against her, his arousal close to spiraling out of control.

Lowering his fangs with a click, he licked her jugular, biting and drinking deep before he forgot to seal their exchange in his pleasure at having her drink from him. With a snap, a cord sprang into life, connecting them together although it was only a shadow of what it would become. As the connection solidified, Eric tore himself away from her sweet blood as his down wound healed as she lapped at it with her delicate little tongue.

Moaning with drunken desire, they allowed their ecstasy to carry them away.

*l*l*l*l*

Lying in his arms, Rogue enjoyed the pleasantly-high feeling that came along with completing their first exchange. There isn't a drug available that her healing factor can't override, making her appreciate the wonderful floating sensation that much more.

Coming back to himself, Eric peeled his large frame off of Rogue's much more diminutive – to him – form. Above average for an American woman at five-six, she was still tiny from his six-six perspective. Although at five-ten, even his Maker Godric is small to him.

Moving over his locked filing cabinet, Eric opened it and removed one of the spare sets of clothing he had in case of having to carry out an emergency staking…or a prolonged torture session. Returning to the still-dazed form of his lover, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss that was surprising in its sweetness.

"I need to shower and change, lover." He said softly, brushing her hair out of her pleasure-glazed eyes. "I will be swift."

Starting to come down from cloud-nine, she just nodded. Watching him as he walked through a door marked private that was nearly hidden along the wall behind Eric's desk, she sat up. Combing her hands carefully through her hair, she straightened her appearance as much as possible without starting over from scratch. Bending down she picked the now-useless contract back up, catching a good sniff of herself along the way.

Wrinkling her nose she thought about joining Eric in his shower…but thought better of it. He does have work to complete now that he's back from the tribunal and joining him in the shower is nothing but a sure way to guarantee neither of them will accomplish anything.

Rogue stood, moving to the paper shredder and taking a perverse pleasure in sending the contract for employment to its demise. Working for him would have done nothing but kill her soul a little more every day until she either had to disappear from his life or track down one of the Muramasa Blades and disappear completely.

_And yet you still hesitate to say those three little words. I wonder why that is, my dear._ Magneto murmured in her mind as she heard Eric finishing his ablutions at vamp-speed.

_It's not like he's said it either._ She pointed out mulishly. _Until just now I had no real idea where I truly stood with him. Now I do and for now that's enough._

Striding back into the office from his private bathroom – little more than a shower stall and a sink – Eric slicked his hair back from his face. The only downside to not having the little luxuries of home – no blow dryer for his hair.

Seeing his slightly-irritated look as he fussed with his wet hair – although she was mightily distracted by the still-bare chest on him, Eric not wanting to put on his shirt until it won't get soaked through – Rogue moved up behind him as he sat at his desk.

"Hold still." She ordered absently as she focused on what she wanted to do. "I don't wanna burn you on accident."

Directing the slightest biokinetic charge into the palms of her hands, she ran them through his hair from root to tip, working meticulously layer by layer.

Eric gave a quiet sigh as the simple pleasure of having her drying his hair so gently infused him, her own enjoyment of the small task cycling through their bond.

Finishing she handed him his shirt, ignoring his smirk over her wordless demand that he clothe himself.

Pulling the t-shirt over his head he suddenly remembered another gift he had for her.

"I believe that it is customary in your culture to present one's intended with a ring?" He quizzed her as he opened a drawer, his eyes locked on her all the while.

"Yes." She said slowly, starting to fidget on the corner of his desk where she'd propped herself. "But you already gave me a car." A really awesome car that she's never giving back or letting anyone else drive. Ever. No matter how much Remy begs and Jubilee whines. That SLS is _hers_. Her gift from her vampire. Hers, hers, hers.

Removing the ring from its iconic Tiffany blue box, he palmed it, concealing it from her gaze. When he saw it in one of Pam's catalogues, he knew it was for her, even though they were not even on speaking terms at the time. He only made one change to the dazzling ring: exchanging the insipid green diamond for one in brilliant emerald green to match her eyes perfectly. He hand selected the center stone himself and had it flown to Tiffany for the ring to be reset.

Taking hold of her left hand, he slipped the ring onto her fourth finger, describing it as he refused to release her hand.

"A one-point-two carat princess cut diamond in emerald green, surrounded by rose-petal-cut brilliant white diamonds totaling over nine carats, all set in platinum with over a carat in round brilliant cut diamonds set in the band. Over eleven and a half carats in diamonds total. A one of a kind ring in a rose-motif." Raising her hand to his lips he placed a meaningful kiss to the back as his gaze burned into her own. "An unique piece of wearable art for an unique woman. My vixen is one-of-a-kind and she deserves nothing less."

Once again rendered speechless by her Viking, Rogue pulled him down giving him a loving kiss before pulling back and staring into his beautiful blue eyes.

"My original name was Anna Marie D'Ancanto." She said, trusting him with something she's not told another soul. "I started going by Rogue after my adoptive parents kicked me out when my mutation manifested. My real name is Anna Marie Xavier and my current legal alias is Rogue Marie Howlett."

"Howlett?" He asked, stroking her bared arms with his thumbs as he held her, hands around her biceps just below her cuff.

"For Logan." She said with a sad smile. "The only real dad I've ever known."

*l*l*l*l*

Feeling that she's been more than patient with her Master's need to fuck his little magical mutant pussy as soon as he came to work – and no longer sensing sexual pleasure through their bond – Pam barged through the door to the office.

Stopping short of the desk where Eric was holding Rogue tenderly against his chest – tenderly for crying out loud! What has happened to her Maker? – Pam's avaricious gaze zeroed in on the extravagant piece of jewelry now bedecking the mutant's hand instead of her own. When Pam found the little blue box she was so excited…until she found the contract and realized what the fuck was going on.

It's official.

Her Master has lost his fucking mind in his old age.

Seeing the path of Pam's gaze, Rogue shyly tucked her hand into the hip pocket on her leather pants.

Snorting, Pam rolled her eyes.

"That's not going to do any good, sweetie." She said condescendingly. "I can smell his blood in you from all the way over here. The second you step foot in the bar every vampire present is going to know what the fuck is going on."

"Pam." Eric said warningly. "That is enough."

"What do you even know about her?" Pam exploded. "You mope around here for weeks like someone ganked your precious car and then in a matter of days you turn into Mr. Serious Commitment? I mean come _on_," she groaned, gesturing wildly. "She's just a mutant. Their almost commonplace now. You don't have to marry her for godsakes."

"_Pamela._" Eric's voice this time was pure command. "That is _enough_."

Pissed beyond all reasoning at what Pam can only describe as the onset of male-midlife-insanity, she sped from the room before she said anything that would _really_ have her Master pissed at her.

"Well that went well." Rogue said facetiously. "Is that how all vampires are going to react or is she just PMS-ing?"

"Pam is my child." He said, running one hand through his hair. "Her attitude has always entertained me and I have let her get away with likely more than I should, but," he shrugged. "It is who we are. She will come around in time. Or I will start curtailing her shoe allowance."

"You give her an allowance?" Rogue couldn't help bursting into laughter at that.

Eric looked away, staring at the far wall. "As I said, she entertains me. And she is still young for a vampire, though not a baby by any means. She is only a hundred-fifty or so. Responsible Makers support their progeny for the first fifty years or until they release them. As I have yet to release Pam, I still give her an allowance from my own funds, yes."

Humming under her breath, Rogue filed this new piece of vampire culture away.

"Now," he tucked an arm around her waist and led her towards the door. "I have vermin to enthrall. Keep me company?"

Rolling her eyes at how he described his sit-and-look-bored act, she nodded and allowed him to escort her out the door, Eric being very careful to keep all her lovely bared skin from touching anyone while she played with the band of her sparkly new ring all the way to the dais.

Reaching his throne, Eric sat regally before pulling his vixen down onto his lap in a very proprietary manner. Content to watch his underlings squirm as they caught the scent of his woman's pleasure and then their chagrin when they realized they were ogling his bonded, he nearly missed it when Rogue stopped playing with her ring and sat up, spinning on his lap so that she faced forward instead of lying sprawled out on top of him.

"Remy's here," she murmured in his ear. "Can I talk to him out here or would you rather we use the office?"

"Here is fine," he said, signaling for the mutant to approach. Eric raised his eyebrows when he caught sight of Gambit's companion. "I do not think I fully appreciated the resemblance between yourself and Ms. Stackhouse before."

"It is striking." Rogue said with a knowing grin, then whispered in his ear: "Having naughty thoughts are we?" Teasing him she rubbed her firm ass against his arousal.

"Only every second of the night." He answered with a wicked fangy grin.

Keeping one hand firmly locked on Sookie's, Remy climbed the short steps to the dais.

"Northman." He acknowledged the vampire with an abrupt nod before turning his gaze on the chuckling Rogue. "What?" He asked her, knowing her sense of humor.

"N-nice shiner." She all-but-snorted. "Run into a door, Mr. Smooth?"

"He ran into Jason's fist." Sookie scowled at her boyfriend. "The two idiots decided to get into a fist-fight in the middle of Merlotte's."

"You should've sold ticket." Rogue told her, finally controlling her laughter. "I know dozens of people who would've paid good money to watch Gambit duke it out with a normal."

"Remy's fine, thanks, _cher_." He said sarcastically. "Sookie's staying wit Remy for her vacation. See ya later." Turning he tried to leave it at that only to get brought up short by a small-but-mighty fist tangling in the hair at the back of his head.

"What did you just say to me?" Rogue hissed, irritated over his blatant lack of respect in front of all of Fangtasia. Lifting him in one hand she shook him like a dog would shake a rat. "Would you care to repeat it?"

The club was silent as they all watched Northman's woman handle the mutant. The humans were all clueless but many of the vampires recognized the Prince of Thieves and could clearly hear the conversation. How she handled herself now would be the benchmark for how little or how much the vampires respected her in her own right outside of her being Northman's bonded.

As she dropped him to the ground, Remy tucked and rolled smoothly to his feet holding his hands up in the air in wordless apology.

"Ms. Stackhouse will be spending some time with Remy's family for the next month." Remy said formerly, quickly working to escape the situation his idiotic comment drug him into before she had to actually kick his Cajun ass. "We came to appraise you of the situation before departing to New Orleans."

"And what are your intentions for my cousin, Mr. LeBeau?" Rogue asked silkily, pacing right along with him as he kept backing up, Sookie at his side. "Why should I _allow_ you to abscond with my blood-kin without so much as a _respectful_ forewarning?"

Cursing in his head, Remy acknowledged that he's well-and-truly pissed her off this time. Catching a glimpse at the rock on her hand he found out why. This isn't just her boyfriend's place anymore, it's for all intents and purposes her _husband's_ bar and her _husband's_ underlings he disrespected her in front of. What once would have been excused as friendly banter, and likely still would've been if it had happened in private, is now a threat to both of their statuses in the vampire world.

Bowing low, Remy switched to French. It would irritate his Sookie but a formal apology just might finess him out of this jam without broken bones.

"_Je tiens à lui faire ma femme. Comme un ami de longue date, je vous demande humblement votre bénédiction pour elle de visiter ma famille et faire sa connaissance avant d'appuyer sur mon costume plus loin." (I wish to make her my wife. As a longtime friend, I humbly ask you for your blessing for her to visit my family and make her acquaintance before pressing my suit any further.)_

Rogue appeared to consider his words for a time while he remained in his bow, her gaze icy.

"Very well." She said at last. "You may go."

Turning on a dime, Remy grabbed Sookie's hand and pulled her out of the bar before Roguey decided to give him a hiding after all.

"What was _that?"_ Sookie asked once they were safely ensconced in his car.

"_That_ was Roguey proving her mettle in front of a bar full of vampires." He gusted out a breath. "Remy stepped on her toes without realizin' t'ings had taken a serious turn 'tween de two of dem. If Roguey let Remy get away wit how he talked to her, it woulda caused her problems down de road. So Remy sucked it up an' made it right 'fore she had to throw Remy around a little."

"Oh." Not really having anything to say to that, Sookie sat back against the leather-covered bucket seat in Remy's Camaro and thought about when he meant when he said "a serious turn."

*l*l*l*l*

Eric sped over to his vixen and swept her up in his arms, spiriting her back up onto the dais and re-depositing her on his lap.

"You were magnificent, lover." He whispered in her ear as activity in the club went back to normal. "Truly magnificent."


	21. Chapter 20

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: The first part of this chapter is a dream sequence so anything in italics is going on in Rogue's dream while things that are italics and bolded are for emphasis and regular font is occurring outside of the dream. I hope that makes sense and isn't too confusing, there won't be any internal conversations going on with her Psykes during her dream because they can enter her dreamscape if she lets them._

_A/N 2: __**I updated Chapter Nineteen to fix a couple storyline errors and a couple other issues. Nothing too drastic but you might want to review when Rogue is thinking about the Muramasa Blades for part of this chapter to make sense, Eric also notices the matching scars on Rogue's front **__and __**back.**_

_Sorry about the long author's notes but I wanted to make some things clear at the beginning to avoid any possible confusion._

**Chapter Twenty**

_Rogue was laying out under the hot Hawaii sun, letting the caressing rays coax a tan from her bikini-clad body. Looking up at the clear azure sky through her sunglasses she let out a heartfelt sigh. She loves her Hawaii dreams._

_Leaning back against her beach lounger she watched the waves lapping at the sand, in her dreamscape there's no tourists, no innocent bystanders that can be harmed by all the exposed skin shown off in the tiny bright-electric-blue bikini that is little more than three strategically placed triangles held up by strings. Humming under her breath she took a sip of the fruity concoction in her hulled-out pineapple glass, complete with a little umbrella._

_As a shadow fell across her, blocking out the sun for a brief moment, she looked up hand shading her gaze as the male form was thrown in sharp relief to the pale sand and bright sunlight behind him._

"_Hello," she said in surprise. "I'm usually alone in my dreams."_

"_This is __**your**__ dream?" The man's voice was young in sound but aged in tone, tinged with the faintest hint of an accent. "Yes." He said, turning his head to look around after a moment of studying the beautiful creature before him. "I suppose it would be. I lost the ability to dream long ago."_

_Standing, Rogue cocked her head to one side as she turned, bringing his features into focus. When she saw him clearly for the first time her gaze was immediately drawn to the tribal tattoos scattered all over his chest and arms, the young – __**very**__ young – man being shirtless and covered only by a pair of nearly-sheer white linen drawstring pants riding low on his lean hips. Casting her eyes up and down his form, she took in the finely-chiseled muscles cording his chest, stomach, and arms; the short, messy dark brown hair offsetting his deep blue-grey eyes; and his young smooth features._

"_I would think," she said musingly. "That if I'm going to have someone randomly invade my dreams it would be one of my Psykes, some of them have __**no**__ sense of boundaries, but I've never met you before."_

"_Nor I you," he acknowledged taking in her appearance in turn. The blazing hair with its strange white streaks – a result of trauma rather than age he easily deduced, green-jewel eyes, luminous ivory skin with an intriguing scar under her breast, lush curves matching a lush rose-kissed mouth, and long, long legs. "Something I deeply regret."_

_Blushing brightly at the compliment implied by both his words and his engrossed look, she crossed her arms over her breasts that were nearly spilling from her top. Thank god Eric can't read her mind or she would likely get in trouble for this little scenario._

_She gasped as she felt the scene beginning to shift, a sense of dread washing over her even in her dreamscape as her attire shifted to the black leather uniform she wore for so many years._

"_No, no, no." She whimpered, holding her head between her hands as she forget all about her uninvited guest. "Not again. I don't want to see this again."_

_Moving soundlessly to the woman's side, Godric took her within his arms in an out-of-character show of comfort. Vampires do not dream. He has not dreamt for over two thousand years, and yet here he is sharing this creature's dreamscape. She pulled him to her somehow but how was the question. A question he will puzzle over upon waking for now there are other concerns._

_A babble of voices sounded through the dreamscape as it shifted from the glorious beach – sunlight on his skin for the first time in millennia – to a dark, shadowed temple. Looking around as he cradled the beautiful, broken thing in his arms, he saw the calligraphy upon the banners draping the walls, the silk screens and bamboo mats, placing them somewhere in Japan. His sharp vampire ears picked up a pair of gruff male voices shouting before the figure in his arms disappeared, reappearing in a kneeling position before an alter that held a gleaming sword fashioned of a blackened metal._

_The male voices belonged to the two creatures flanking her prostrate position._

"_I called you here to talk sense into her Jimmy!" The massive shaggy-blonde mountain bellowed at the smaller, extremely broad-shouldered dark haired male. "Not give her a fucking Yoda we-are-the-world speech!"_

_Vamping around to get a better view of the kneeling woman, he felt a ghostly hand upon his shoulder as he caught sight of her weeping face._

"_She can't hear you or see you now. She's lost in the memory." Said the phantom form of the dark haired man. "Marie can't hear any of us. Not when the kid loses herself in nightmares like this."_

_Looking beyond the first phantom he saw a number of others ranging behind him, spread out along the temple walls._

_There was an elderly man with still-proud features playing chess with a teenaged blonde-haired boy. Another blonde but not so young as the first was absently forming figurines out of ice while a dark-haired male about the same age flipped a lighter open and closed while watching the woman – Marie – with pained eyes. A wilder version of the first phantom – the man from Marie's nightmare – prowled growling in the shadows while a red-haired woman cowered in a corner, watching the wild-man carefully. Standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with the first phantom was a tall man with strange red and black eyes twirling a staff. In the very far depths of the shadows, Godric made out a cage that pulsed malicious amusement._

_His attention was called back to the tableau as the weeping form of Marie gave a keening cry. The dark man – Jimmy the other called him – crouched low, wrapping her in a one-armed hug and pressed a kiss to her mussed hair._

"_I'll be alone, forever Logan." She said brokenly. "I tried everything when I took that blast from Havok and instantly healed. I took pills, I bled out, I jumped from a cliff, I let myself drown…everything, every way I could think of. I'm just like you." She nearly choked on her sobs, clutching at his shirt as she hid her face._

"_You're not like us, kitten." The other man hunkered down next to her. "We were born this way. This was forced on you. But you'll never be alone. You'll have us forever too."_

"_Never alone." She said bitterly. "Yeah that's about right. I always have someone in my head but no one I can ever touch. What a way to spend eternity. Both plagued by and ostracized from humanity."_

"_We'll take care-a you, darlin'," Logan said, rocking her back and forth. "Always. You have us even though we hate each other's fuckin' guts. Don't do this darlin'."_

_Victor held out one clawed hand, lifting Rogue from Jimmy's arms. Standing her straight in front of the sword, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her head. Joining them, Logan placed one hand on her shoulder._

"_That sword is final." Logan said after a moment. "You're the only one who's ever gotten me and Sabertooth to work together in the last twenty years. You're the only one that can keep us from killin' each other." Tilting her head to meet his gaze, Logan made her a solemn vow. "You ever find yourself thinkin' about this place again, you call us first."_

"_If you go, Stripes." Victor squeezed her. "We'll follow."_

_The scene changed again, the woman – Marie – coming back to his side only this time dressed in a regular pair of jeans and a T-shirt._

"_That one is always bad." She whispered, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her gloved hands. "I'm surprised you're still here."_

Eric woke abruptly from his daily death, well-aware that the sun was still high in the sky. After a moment the reason for his awareness was made clear as the form of Rogue began to thrash in her sleep.

"No, no, no." She cried out, her face a mask of pain. "Not this. Anything but this."

Taking her in his arms, he kissed her brow, sending her serenity through their bond. Rocking her back and forth, he wondered what could be bad enough for her to wake him from his rest without even being awake herself? What sort of mortal peril is she facing in her dreams?

"_As am I, little one." Godric said honestly. "Vampires do no dream. I have no idea how I came to be here."_

"_Vampire?" Rogue studied him intently, noticing the sun-deprived pallor. "Well hmm. That's curious. If I was going to be visited by a vampire in my sleep, I would've thought it would be Eric."_

"_Eric?" Godric felt his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. She knows his progeny? Although to be fair there is more than one Eric in the vampire world. His Eric is just the most well-known._

"_Um-hmm." She felt herself tense as the next scene began to form. "Eric Northman. My…bonded I believe is the term."_

_Godric felt shocked as the pieces of a puzzle that has been bothering him for weeks finally came together. All the turmoil and riotous emotions pouring through Eric's end of their child-Maker bond at last had a source. His Viking fell in love with a human. Well, with a creature other than a vampire, that last scene seemed to suggest that she was some form of immortal._

_He felt his fangs click down as the scene opened up before him. Humans and strange creatures formed a battlefield with a pair of creatures standing upon a dark hill as others struggled to reach them. Marie stayed at his side this time as they watched the same man from the last memory – Logan fought beside others wearing similar uniforms._

"_What is this?" He asked as she remained by his side._

"_The day I discovered my death wish." She said, her voice utterly weary as she watched alongside him. "Soon you will see why."_

_Logan distracted the two upon the hill as a blue-furred creature leapt and stabbed the elderly man from among the phantoms with a cartridge filled with darts of some kind. As the man fell to the ground and the blue-furred creature bounded away, the glowing red-haired woman began to float, her rage palpable even in the memory residue._

"_Here it comes." Marie whispered as she faded and reformed coming up the hill behind the glowing woman. Taking her gloves off she waited until Logan was pleading with the Phoenix before pouncing. Slapping her now-gloveless hands on her face, she held on tightly as Logan bellowed at her to let go and let him handle it. As she heard him shout his love for Jean for everyone to hear._

"No, no, no." Rogue whimpered. "Not her Logan. Anyone but her."

_Godric watched in awe as the two women floated above the crowd, a dark visage seeming to take over Marie's face as black lines appeared upon both women. After several long moments the two broke apart and plummeted to the ground. Only now the glowing woman was lifeless, her vibrant hair leeched white and Marie's turned from brown to that blazing red._

_The man Logan rushed over to the broken body of the glowing woman, cradling her in his arms and sobbing over her body as others circled the fallen form of Marie, all clearly loathe to touch her._

"_Move." Another one of Marie's phantoms pushed through the crowd, shoving the others away and leaning over her form. Only he had no lighter in his hands instead having some form of strange device attached to one hand._

"_Rogue." He said gently. "Rogue?"_

_The still form began to convulse and he gathered her in his arms._

"_Wolverine!" He screamed over his shoulder. "Get your ass over here unless you want to lose both of them tonight!"_

_Laying the broken form down, Logan came wearily to his feet, absently wiping his tears away as he ran over to his Marie. Taking her from Pyro, he held her still leaning down to whisper in her ear._

"_I know ya can still hear me in there, kid." He said brokenly. "You come back, ya hear me. You come back. I can't lose both of ya to that bitch, ya hear me kid!"_

_The others in the crowd all held their breath as he lowered his head to hers and pressed their brows together, not showing even the slightest of flinches as she began absorbing him._

*l*l*l*l*

Rogue jolted awake, panting, one hand fisted and tucked under her jaw and the other pressed against her chest at her heart. She always wakes from that dream in the same manner: thinking she has Wolverine's claws and trying to make the pain stop _permanently_.

"_Rävhona?" (Vixen?)_ Eric's voice called her to true awareness.

Taking stock of her surroundings she realized they were in his bed as he held her in his strong arms and stroked one hand down her hair and back in a soothing gesture. Bringing her memories under control, she felt the care and worry coming from his side of the bond.

Then she noticed something else as she examined their bond closer.

She wasn't just being sent caring, and love, and worry from _Eric_. It was also coming _through_ Eric from another source.

"Are you alright?" Eric asked her. The nightmare seemed to last forever, keeping him awake against the call of the daysleep for hours, something he did not even think possible until he reached a much greater age. His Maker could do it but Godric was over twice his undead age.

"Did I scream?" She finally asked, scrubbing her hands over her face and feeling the slightest hint of tears. At least she didn't cry her eyes out this time.

"I take that to mean you know what just happened?" Eric held her tighter. As he has not dreamed in a thousand years he is unsure whether such awareness is normal under such traumatic visions or not.

Blowing out her breath she nodded, letting herself fall back against his chest and cuddling into him, soaking up his tenderness like a flower soaking up the sun.

"I've had nightmares ever since my power manifested." She admitted. "Some are worse than others.  
At least these ones were mine and not a replay of another's memories." Looking up into his strained face she saw the tracks of blood coming from his ears. "You're bleeding." She pointed out, feeling awful over her issues having such an effect on him.

"The bleeds are a result from fighting the daysleep." He told her with a shrug. "They stopped after the sun became low enough. I will be fine. I am concerned over these dreams of yours. Do they happen often?" He did not remember waking early on the other occasions they rested together.

"I used to have them several times a night." She sighed, thinking back to the year when she almost went crazy, leading up to her finding and nearly using one of the Muramasa Blades before Victor found her and stalled her while Logan came to help talk her down from the ledge. "Back to back. I'd wake, fall back asleep, have another nightmare, wake, etc. Now it usually takes outside events to trigger them."

"Like breaking a serial killer?" He hazarded shrewdly. "Or bonding with a vampire."

"The first is much more likely," she said drily, shooting him a teasing glance. "Although if the vampire was bratty enough…"

Growling playfully, Eric set about tickling her until she was gasping from laughter. Hugging her to him, he sat them both up, keeping her firmly trapped in his arms.

"I could not wake you." He said, voice troubled. "I could feel some of your terror, your fear, even your hopelessness. But no matter what I did you would not wake."

"Yeah." She sighed, resting back against him, settling between his spread thighs. "No one can and believe me many have tried once I start screaming. Maybe our bond just isn't strong enough yet, you said that it gets stronger with each exchange, right?"

"Mhmm." Eric nipped at her ear his relief over her being relatively-unscathed by her night terrors coursing through their bond.

"Uh uh, Mr. Big-Bad-Viking. There's somethin' I need to do before you go gettin' frisky." She said pulling away and rising with a firm look for him to stay where he was.

Walking over to the attached bath, she dampened a washcloth with warm water then wringing it out returned to his side. Working with the gentlest of touches she wiped away the evidence of his bleeds, his still-worried but slightly-aroused gaze focused intently on her calm face. Moving quickly she tossed the now-bloody rag in one of his laundry bins before coming back over to his side and snuggling back under the furs.

"No one has taken care of me like that in longer than I can remember." He said, thinking back. "Not since I was a child, before I started training to be a warrior."

"What about your Maker?" She asked, trailing one hand along his smooth chest as he stared contemplatively off into the shadows of the room. With a whirring sound the light-tight shutters began to rise, showcasing the coming night.

Eric chuckled at the thought.

"The Maker-Childe relationship generally is not as parental as humans like to think." He said amusement plain in the little smirk he gave her. "It is more about desire and companionship then it is "parenting" although in some cases it can be strictly parent-child that is very rare, usually occurring when a vampire has found their true mate but wishes to turn another for whatever reason. There almost always is a strong sexual element involved not a nurturing one."

Rogue analyzed this for a moment, hitting on a couple of point she wanted clarified.

"True mate?" She asked softly, looking up at him with velvety eyes.

"They are very, very rare." Eric caressed her cheek. "And are considered a gift from the gods. I know only of…" He trailed off, thinking of the vampires he either knows or has heard of. "Less than five couples." He decided. "I have only met two of them and all mated couples tend to be very secretive and reclusive."

"How do you know you've found a true mate?" She asked, giving him a glance from under bashfully lowered lashes.

"Interested?" Eric teased, flipping them so that she was flat on her back and he was crouched over her. "Thinking about applying for the position?"

"Maybe," she teased back, fluttering her lashes. "After all you're already spoiling me rotten and treating me like a queen. Why wouldn't I wanna be your true mate? We're already stuck together for eternity."

Growling with arousal at the thought, he set himself to pleasuring his little bonded. As they slept naked, he easily stripped away all her defenses and left her in a quivering, fuck-drunk mess, bringing her close to her peak over and over again but refusing to let her come. Stroking deep within her heated-silk channel, he lowered his masterful mouth to her ear.

"Bite." He commanded her in a deep growl, barely holding onto his control. "Bite me now."

As her sharp – but still dull compared to his fangs – canines bit deep into his chest and she began lapping at his rich blood he threw is head back in ecstasy before lowering himself to her neck and taking her blood in several long pulls. Their pleasure spiking as their blood joined, they held onto each other fiercely as they came together.

Coming down from his euphoric buzz, Eric picked her up and padded with her into his bathroom, running them both a bath for her to relax in while he held her. Once they were in place, he whispered the answer to her question in her ear, the words shocking her from her waking-dream-high like a plunge into an ice-bath.

"Dreams." He nuzzled at her ear. "A vampire only ever dreams of his true mate."


	22. Chapter 21

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: I'm switching things up and (not that this is surprising) going off TB canon for Godric's Maker. Instead of a depraved Roman I went with a noble of Ancient Greek-origins. So while Godric is known to speak several "dead" languages I'm throwing Greek in the mix since I don't know of an Ancient Greek translator, like how I have Eric speaking Norwegian or Swedish rather than Old Norse. On that same topic since neither Eric nor Godric are known to speak Japanese and Logan does, the vampires will be getting a taste of their own habit of having people talk around them instead of to them when Rogue and Logan reunite._

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Sensing her panic but not knowing what about his words would affect her in such a drastic way, Eric spun Rogue around to face him, water from their shared bath splashing over the rim of his orgy-size whirlpool tub.

Taking several deep breaths, Rogue looked deep into his icy-blue eyes as if trying to engrave them upon her memory. Forcing calm through their bond, she asked a clarifying question before she completely lost her shit.

"Are the mating dreams shared?"

Alarmed at the turn the conversation has taken, Eric grabbed her roughly by the arms, pulling her forward until her bounteous breasts were crushed against his hard chest.

"Who have you been dreaming of, lover?" He asked in a silky but menacing voice. _Fuck! I finally find someone I want for my own and she turns out to be someone's true mate. The gods really are vindictive assholes._

_Calm yourself, my childe._ Godric's smooth voice carried through their bond, much closer than Eric expected it to be.

"I don't know his name." She said, frantic. "I've only ever seen him the once."

_Perhaps my blood awakened some latent bond? _Eric thought rapidly trying find a usable strategy for keeping his vixen. _No, that makes no sense…unless…_

"What did he look like?" Eric gritted through his teeth as he restrained his inner need to stake the motherfucker and be done with it. _She. Is. Mine._

_Control yourself, Eiríkir._ This time the command was stark in Godric's mental voice. _You risk damaging that which you would call your own._

Leashing his temper, Eric relaxed his grip on her arms, stroking the darkened skin gently until it healed. Remorseful, he bent down and kissed both marks as they faded away.

Rogue twined her arms around him, holding him close to her breast as he fought for control. She waited several long minutes not making a move or a sound as he struggled with his vampiric nature, remembering quite well one of the very first things he ever taught her about vampires. _Possessive. Territorial. Violent._

When she felt through their link that he was calm enough to hear her without going into a berserker rage, she thought back to her dream and described him.

"He seemed young." She began, picking her words with the utmost care. "But his appearance was at odds with the aura of power he exuded. He had tattoos. Taller than me but under six feet. Brown hair, blue-grey eyes but not as light as yours."

At "tattoos" Eric started, staring at her in shock. There are not many vampires with tattoos, the practice being rather rare before the last half-century. And his Maker just happened to have tattoos, brown hair, blue-grey eyes, and most of all a bond with _him_.

_Master?_ The query was more plea than question. _Tell me I have not claimed your True Mate. Tell me she is not yours._

_I cannot tell you that, my childe. _Godric's voice was much closer, he must be flying to them with all-haste. _I am…unsure._ Eric heard a hesitation in his Maker's voice that he has never sensed before, not in a thousand years.

Burying his head in the crook of her arm, he vamp-sped them from the water, towel-drying them both with the same high-level of speed. Taking her with him into the closet he pulled a massive Fangtasia T-shirt over her head, clothing himself in a simple set of black jeans and sky-blue t-shirt.

Wordlessly, but conveying his despair with every glance, Eric picked her up carefully, reveling in each moment of contact as if it was their last. Cradling his confused/worried/heartbroken/panicked bonded in his strong arms, he walked at normal human speed through his house until they reached his study where he set her down on the snowy-white fur rug before the fireplace that he set aflame with a flick of his thumb on the remote. Sitting with her between his legs and resting against his chest, he encircled her completely as they both watched the flames dance.

_What if this is the end of us? _She thought, heart breaking as she watched the flames dance off the ring he gave her only the night before. Everything – and at the same time _nothing_ – has changed within that short span of hours dividing then and now.

_Losing her will be the end of me._ He thought, breathing in the sweet/spicy/tart scent that is uniquely hers. Even knowing she was going to his Maker…his emotions for them both will not be enough to tether him to this existence without completing his bond to her. A thing never before heard of in the case of true mates, allowing another vampire to be bonded with a mate. _This will undo me._

"Such pain, my childe." Godric spoke from his place silently watching them from the study's doorway. "Such grief and despair. Has my undefeatable Viking lost his mettle?"

"_Nej, bara hans hjärta." (No, just his heart.) _Eric answered, turning his red-rimmed eyes to face his Maker.

"My vixen," he whispered in her ear when she refused to turn her gaze from the flames. "Meet my Maker, Godric."

Turning in his arms, she straddled his lap looking deep into his icy-blue gaze. Searching, she saw what he has endeavored to keep from her. She found love in his eyes. Burrowing her head into the crook of his neck, she breathed him in pushing her own love through their bond. Arms spasming around him as she held him just as close as he does her, she finally looked up, resting her chin on Eric's shoulder.

"Hello again, little one." Godric smiled gently at the beautiful creature he met in a dream.

*l*l*l*l*

Eric held her close, waiting for Rogue to stop shaking as her emotions swung wildly out of control faster than he could keep up.

Sensing the turmoil roiling through both of the them, Godric moved over to Eric's side, joining them on the fur.

"_Hur kan detta vara, Godric?" (How can this be, Godric?) _Eric demanded of his Maker. _"Det fanns inget samband där när jag tog hennes blod. Hon var orörd och outtagna. Nu är hon är din sanna Mate?" (There was no connection there when I took her blood. She was untouched and unclaimed. Now she is your True Mate?)_

Rogue stirred from her place lost in her mind as her emotions continued to swing. The sound of them talking around her in a language she didn't understand making her temper spark, pulling her from her pit of uncertainty.

"_Hur kan hon vara min Bonded och din Mate, Mästare?" (How can she be my Bonded and your Mate, Master?) _Eric finished, feeling like a newly risen vampire with all his questions.

"_Hon kan vara en följd av det andra, min Viking." (She may be one because of the other, my Viking.) _Godric replied cryptically.

"That's enough of that." Rogue said firmly as her irritation at both them threatened to boil over, an indulgence she can't afford at the moment. Eric is already a hairsbreadth from snapping, it wouldn't take much to set him off. "Care to translate for the non-Swedish speaking person present?"

"We are merely attempting to find the cause of the present situation." Godric replied in his well-modulated voice. "Both my childe and I feel a…bond to you."

Eric nodded, enticing her gaze away from her enraptured staring at his Maker. "But no bond was present before our first blood exchange." He added when his Master finished speaking. "There was not even the slightest hint of your having any sort of connection to another in your blood. Not before me."

_And there should have been none after._ He thought futilely.

"What do your instincts say, Marie?" Godric asked, catching the shocked look Eric gave him but not knowing the source. "Or do you prefer Rogue? You were called both in your dreamscape."

Brushing one soothing hand across one of Eric's sharp cheekbones, Rogue dug deep within herself, examining that secondary connection she found when she woke. Finding it at last she studied it with her mind's eye, making sure that her first instinct from early was correct.

"Rogue is all I go by in public." She said, coming out of her semi-trance state. "Only two others besides Eric and now you," she gestured weakly towards Godric, "Who aren't my blood-kin know what my given name is."

"Rogue then," Godric tasted the name on his tongue, finding it an apt appellation for the woman he first met by viewing some of her most traumatic experiences. "What do you think about our present circumstances?"

"I feel a connection to you." She answered slowly, one hand holding Eric to her when he made a move to leave. "But it's through Eric. I don't feel it of its own accord. It only exists in me because I have Eric, his blood and his bond, in me."

Godric moved closer to the entangled couple at her words, both vampires carefully examining her breakdown of their connections to her against their individual ideas about what has happened between the three of them. Reaching out gently, Godric kept one eye on his volatile progeny as he delicately stroked his thumb across her rose-petal lips.

All three of them gasped as the sensation spiraled through each of them, shooting through their blood bonds like a meteor.

"What is this?" Eric asked as he felt his arousal – abated by his emotional turmoil – sprang back to life, his nerve ending dancing with pleasure along his lips.

"What I believe has happened is that our beautiful Rogue," Godric said, smiling at the divine creature that has effectively awoken him from his century-long depression. "Was meant for both of us. If I had met her first I believe that she would have dreamed of you, as she dreamed of myself after exchanging blood with yourself. Together we are her perfect mate just as together the two of you fashion my own perfect mate and the same for Eric with myself and Rogue. The three of us together fulfill every need any one of us might require."

Rogue lost her breath as a very dirty thought crossed her mind, distracting her from the seriousness of their conversation.

_Eric. And. Godric._

"…_the bond is usually sexual in nature…"_

_Oh sweet baby Jesus! _She thought blushing as she felt a wave of heat wash over her. She'd never even realized she had _that_ particular kink hiding in her inner naughty-self. Since until Eric introduced them she had no idea his Maker was a male she never connected the dots before.

Seeing the blush and inhaling deeply as she suddenly smelled quite delectable – in more than one way – Godric and Eric exchanged a wicked grin having an educated guess where their little mate's mind just went.

"That is quite a blush, vixen." Eric's voice was a pure sex purr. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, little one." Godric joined him, his own voice flirtatious than sexual. "What could you be thinking of?"

With a groan Rogue buried her face in Eric's chest, ignoring the chuckles coming from both males. She rather expected Eric to comment on it, he's never been shy about teasing her over her reaction to him, but Godric just looks so…innocent.

Although since he _is_ older than Eric by who-only-knows-how-many-years she supposed _innocent_ is pretty damn wide of the mark.

"I think we lost her in the gutter, Master." Eric smirked at his Maker over her head, ignoring the punch she shot at his ribs that he caught in big hand with a laugh.

"Godric, Eric." Godric chastised him lightly. "I haven't asked you to call me Master in centuries."

Eric rolled his eyes with a sigh. So Godric has been telling him for centuries but his respect for his Maker made changing that habit difficult.

"Do you truly believe she is both our mates?" Eric asked, getting back on topic. "Such a thing is unheard of."

"I have had more time than you to consider the matter." Godric said, stroking on hand down Rogue's thick curls. "Since she told me she was your bonded in her dream and I realized what was going on. Only a few hours more, but long enough to review what I knew of true mates. According to my knowledge, true mates are exactly that: the true, perfect match of one soul to another. My belief is that if vampires were more discerning with selecting their progeny true mates would be found more often as one person is rarely a perfect match to another."

Reviewing their bloodline, Eric came to a similar conclusion. Except for Godric's Maker Thanatos who made two vampiric children, one of which was his true mate Andraste, every vampire only had a single progeny. With Eric and Godric mating the same woman, only his Pam and the father of their line Cain remained unmated.

Theirs is a small but highly powerful vampiric line.

"Like how Eric is more lighthearted and you're more serious?" Rogue asked, lifting her head as his explanation shifted her focus from her own arousal and subsequent embarrassment.

Nodding, Godric picked up her left hand, pressing a kiss to Eric's ring.

"Or how in Eric's case he never would have been satisfied with being monogamous to a male, loving women the way he does." Godric teased his progeny over his legendary legion of conquests.

"How Godric is too much of a little monster for only one person to handle." Eric tossed back, referencing his Maker's notoriously controlling personality.

"Eric's inexhaustible libido." Rogue suggested with a leer.

"Rogue's feisty temper definitely requires two males to deal with." Eric growled into her neck, nibbling lightly and making her laugh as it tickled.

Plucking Rogue from Eric's arms, Godric stood then set her on her feet.

"There is truly only one way for us to know for sure." He said, enjoying the banter but being well-aware that they could not afford to leave the situation unresolved for long. "We need to attempt a blood exchange. If the bond forms then we are all true mates if not…" he trailed off already dreading that turn of events, no matter how unlikely at this point it might be. Returning to his dreary, grey existence would be unbearable none that Rogue has brought light back into his world.

"I don't think there's much chance of us not forming a bond in our own right." Rogue said drily. "Not when you're visitin' my dreams and I'm feelin' you through our Eric."

"Our Eric," Godric savored the phrase on his tongue before bursting into a wide grin. "I love the sound of that. Our Eric."

Rising to his feet, Eric held out his arms from his body and arching a brow. "Is that all I am?" He joked, ruthlessly teasing them. Eric found himself agreeing with both his Maker and his Rogue. The three of them together felt…right. There was no chance the two of them won't form a bond with a blood exchange. "A possess for the two of you to claim?"

Trading a teasing glance they turned as one and answered him in stereo.

"Yes."

*l*l*l*l*

At Eric's suggestion they moved to his now-stocked kitchen, reminding Rogue that she hasn't eaten as yet this rising.

The two vampires sat at his formerly-unused table while she puttered about putting together a meal, discussing some of the ramifications of their as-yet-unproved tri-mating while Rogue listened absently keeping on the lookout for anything she might want clarification on later.

"Resigning is the only thing to do." Godric said when Eric asked about his position as Sheriff of Area 9. "I only took the post because the Area needed relentless oversight after the last Sheriff failed abysmally at reining in his underlings. Isabel is more than capable of becoming Sheriff in my absence."

"What are we going to do about housing?" Rogue asked as she carried her pair of thick club sandwiches piled high with toppings that she coupled with a fruit salad and a glass of milk. "Eric and I have been splitting time between both of our houses for the last couple days but we can't do that indefinitely. If Godric buys or already has a place of his own in the area that makes things just that much more complicated."

"I own a flat in New Orleans," Godric answered the implied question. "But nothing in this area. I have always stayed with Eric on the rare occasion I felt the need to visit. You own a home here as well I take it?"

Eric chuckled at the question. "Our little mate is quite the heiress it seems." He answered for her since she was busy eating. "She has a wealth some vampires would envy. Not the least among which is her renovated plantation house in Bon Temps."

Swallowing the bite of sandwich, Rogue came clean about her various properties.

"Plus the chateau in the French Alps, the beach houses in Hawaii and Malibu, a penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York, a small cottage in Madripoor's Hightown, and the family estate properties that include an actual estate in Cumberland and a townhouse in London." She counted them off, ignoring the surprised looks from her mates. "The Manor that houses the school I used to attend is technically in my name but that is for purposes of continuity, my father," she grimace almost unperceptively around the word, "didn't want to take any chances on it being in danger from a board or executor making decisions contrary to his original vision. The only properties I selected myself were the ones Malibu and Bon Temps."

"Between the three of us we must own property on every continent." Godric said with a little laugh. "Barring Antarctica."

"The question then becomes," Eric commented as he kept one eye on Rogue to make sure she finished her meal. He is not about to allow her to neglect herself now that she's educated him on the demands of her mutation. "Which of our homes is the best equipped for all three of us or do we need to start over in another home altogether."

Rogue frowned at that last suggestion. Feeling her dissatisfaction, Godric asked her what was wrong.

"I don't wanna seem like a brat," she admitted, staring down at the remnants of her plate. "Or like I always gotta have my own way."

"Listen to me, little one." Godric said after trading a glance with Eric and getting a nod from his progeny. Of the two of them Godric has always been better at articulating his thoughts, Eric preferring actions to words. "There is no way for us to make this work without talking to each other. Things might appear easier between Eric and myself but that is simply because after a thousand years we each know how the other thinks. You need to give us the same opportunity to know you and your wants, needs, and thoughts." He tucked one of her white locks of hair behind her ear. "And we will not be able to know without you telling us. We won't think you're a brat."

"Pam's a brat." Eric tossed out, kissing her on the corner of her mouth while Godric watch in envy. "You my vixen are many things but bratty is not one of them."

Godric felt a yearning course through him for the same level of familiarity Eric has already established with Rogue. He itched for the day when he could give her a casual kiss without fearing she would flinch or turn away.

"I just spent years collecting enough adamantium to reinforce my lair." She said confusing Godric if the look he shot Eric was any indication.

"We will show you what she means when we go there tonight." Eric said in an aside.

"It took me weeks to get the rooms down there just the way I wanted." She lifted one hand in a wordless gesture of frustration. "I only just finished it and I really don't want to start all over again somewhere new. And here is fine," she looked around the kitchen with a smile. "But there is nowhere safe for me to work with my powers here. The gym will be fine for my workouts and everything really is great, but I need a place to work with my powers to keep them all under control. I don't wanna fry one of you on accident because you did that speed thing into the middle of a blast or a session working with flame."

Seeing the still slightly confused look Godric was giving Eric as he wondered what, _exactly_, she is, Rogue answered the question he was hesitating to ask.

"I'm a mutant, Godric." She said with a little smirk. "Your perfect mate is a walking genetic experiment."

"Rogue," Eric chastised her with a glance over her self-deprecating remark, whether she said it for comedic effect or not.

"Well," she defended herself. "I am. That's part of what my mutation _does_. My "copied" powers are all a result of my mutation affecting the portion of the X-gene that determines how mutations manifest. The original portion remains unchanged but it adds the additional mutations I absorb from others on a genetic level."

Her being a mutant actually explained quite a bit from her dreams that previously had made little sense to Godric.

"That is what you did to that redheaded woman." Godric studied her carefully. "You absorbed her by touching her."

Rogue nodded, shooting him a look. Things would've been a lot easier for her to deal with if he hadn't been given a front-row seat to two of her darkest moments. _Awesome._ She thought sarcastically. _My future mate got to see me suicidal and homicidal. Great first impression._

"Well with fast cars and being able to fly, basing ourselves in Bon Temps should not be a problem." Eric said, watching as she rinsed her dishes and stacked them carefully for his cleaning service to deal with later as he didn't own a dishwasher.

Blushing she looked at the vampires staring at her like a pair of predators watching prey, all attempts at decorum flying out the window now that she's been fed.

"About that…" she trailed off, casting a guilty glance at her Viking. "I can actually fly, just not as effortlessly as you do…"

Smirking, Eric stood and vamp-sped behind her, kissing her sensually on one side of her neck as Godric joined them. Sweeping her up in his arms, making her give a surprised gasp as she was expecting Eric to do something like that and not Godric. Winding her arms around Godric's neck she pressed a shy kiss to the edge of his tattoo peeking up at her from the V of his casual linen shirt.

"The time has come for that list of powers, lover." Eric raised a brow at her as she snuggled into his Maker's arms, her arousal which had been on a slow burn during her meal sparking once again.

"Life/memory/thought/power absorption," she began rattling off the list as Godric "Rhett Butler'd" her – as Sookie would say – up to Eric's bedroom. "Healing factor/longevity/heightened senses-speed-strength-stamina. Biokinetic explosions with minor empathy. Slight telepathy and major telekinesis which combined with metalkinesis is how I fly. Shapeshifting. Pyrokinesis. Cryokinesis. And that list _doesn't_ include the non-mutation skills I've collected from both my own studies and others' memories."

Eric gave a soundless whistle as he found out at last just how powerful his bonded is and what Class-Five really means. No wonder she has two mates, one vampire on his own would have a hard time protecting her, he would spend every second paranoid that someone was going to take her while he was attending to his duties and businesses. With two of them one could be with her always, a powerful deterrent to any kidnapping or assassination attempts.

Godric set her down in the center of Eric's massive bed with exquisite gentleness. Watching her eyes for any sign of discomfort, he closed the distance between them and did what he has wanted to do since the moment he saw in her in the dreamscape, pressing his lips to hers in a chaste but powerful kiss.

Falling into the pleasure spiraling through the three of them at the contact, Godric deepened the kiss, coaxing her lips to open and sweeping his tongue inside to taste and tangle with her own. Feeling Eric coming down on the bed beside them, Godric lifted his eyes to the icy-blue gaze. Watching them kiss with burning eyes, Eric surprisingly felt no jealousy for either his vixen or his Maker after his earlier disquiet at the situation.

Breaking the kiss as he felt his control beginning to slip, Godric stared down into the arousal-flushed face of his little one.

"How do you want to proceed, little one?" He asked in a whisper as he felt her lush curves press into his own lean frame.

Rogue traded a mischievous glance with the watching-Eric, remembering her earlier foray into the gutter. Catching the direction of her thoughts, he smirked then leaned forward to whisper in his Maker's ear.

"Her neck."

Moving stealthily behind his Maker he waited for the precise moment Godric pierced her with his fangs then striking in a blurred movement Eric used his own fangs on Godric's shoulder but refrained from drinking, Rogue taking his place at the wound laving and teasing it with her tongue as they all shuddered in pleasure as it coursed through their entangled bonds.

Licking the wound one last time, Rogue backed off and Eric took her place, drinking down his Maker's rich blood and reaffirming their own bond as Godric bit into the wrist offered to him as he threw back his head in ecstasy.

All of them moaned in bliss as a shining silver cord snapped into being connecting all three of them in an eternal bond.


	23. Chapter 22

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: Another dreamscape scene in the beginning of this chapter or should I say another V trip for Rogue that she pulls her vampires into…_

_**Lemon Warning! **__This chapter contains steamy-yummy goodness. There is some slight Eric/Godric lemony happenings although mostly it is one or both of the guys with Rogue. You have been warned!_

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

"_That's not much of a life you're livin'. It's not somethin' you just take: it's given." – "Stay" Rihanna._

*l*l*l*l*

_Rogue stretched luxuriously in the white-hot sand, loving the balmy heat of the Hawaii sun on her naked skin. Her island-paradise dreams really are her favorites, nothing but sun, sand, and surf on her private beach with a cold drink chilling her in hand. Taking off her sunglasses she turned over onto her stomach on her soft cotton towel, heaving a relaxed sigh._

_After an indecipherable span of time, she felt eyes caressing her bare skin and lifted her head, looking over her shoulder._

"_Hellig Frigga." (Holy Frigga.) Eric breathed out, taking in the bright sun upon her flesh, sun that for once was not burning him to a crisp. "Do you sunbathe nude often in your dreams?" He asked, sending his burning gaze over her bare backside. "Because if so I am going to have to insist on joining you more often."_

_Laughing Rogue turned back over, raising one knee and leaning back on her elbows in a teasing pose. "I guess y'all will have to just wait and see." She winked at Godric as he walked up beside his still-leering progeny. Both vampires were dressed in identical white jeans that clung to their hips, with bared chests and feet._

"_The view isn't bad from my side either." She said, looking them both up and down, focusing on Eric's massive arms and shoulders shown off alongside Godric's cut chest and abs, the tight jeans showing off a pair of very impressive packages, one she has yet to see for herself although not for lack of desire on either of their parts._

"_So this is your dreamscape?" Eric asked looking around curiously._

"_Mmm," Rogue nodded, taking a sip of her drink in hopes of cooling her mind and her rising libido. She would rather her first time with Godric took place in real life and not one of her dreams. Her dreams often turn dark so quickly… "My private beach attached to my house in Hawaii." She gestured to the modest bungalow behind her. "The only beach in the world besides a deserted island where I can wear a bikini and not have to worry about killin' someone on accident."_

_Coming to rest beside her, both vampires worked in unison, each stroking a hand down her delightfully bared skin._

"_I would venture a guess that our blood exchange had the desired effect." Godric murmured, raising her hand for a kiss as he stared deep into her eyes. Leaning down he caressed the nape of her neck, holding her still for a deep, biting kiss._

"_Hmm." Eric hummed under his breath, curling up behind her as she turned to press her naked self fully along Godric, letting out a hiss when his cool chest came into contact with her sun-and-desire heated skin. Lowering his head as they continued to kiss, Eric reached around and cupped her breasts in his hands, pinching her nipples lightly as he nipped at the curve of her neck._

_Before things could get too carried away, the familiar sense of the scene beginning to shift washed over Rogue and Godric, startling Eric from his lust as clothes rippled and covered Rogue's nakedness._

"_Any idea what we will see?" Godric asked her as the scenery melted and began to reform._

_Looking down at her clothes, she smiled. "Something good this time." Was all she said as her form disappeared._

_Standing Eric and Godric watched avidly as the beach became a run-down, smoky bar._

"_This is where she met us." The dark-haired phantom and the wild-man said in unison from behind them, causing Eric to spin with a hiss before being calmed by his Maker._

"_They mean us no harm, min Viking." (My Viking.) Godric said calmly. "They are just shadows here."_

"_Not all-a us are only shadows." Grunted the wild-man as he cast a scathing glance over his shoulder at the cowering red-head in the corner. The dark-haired man growled in turn, looking beyond the others towards the cage held in the back. "Some-a us are all that's left-a us in the world. And some-a us are more fragment than phantom."_

"_Better pay a attention," the dark haired one said. "This clips by pretty fast. Some of it's pretty gruesome but for some reason she actually likes this set of memories."_

_Intrigued by his description Godric turned back while Eric cast a wary eye over the assembled phantoms. He did not trust them at his back but would not miss this glimpse into his vixen's life and head for anything._

_The phantom was right, the scene did cut from one memory fragment to the next rapidly._

_First there was Rogue, wrapped up from head to toe in a green cloak with the hood up over her head, nearly concealing her brown hair. She watched as the dark-haired phantom fought and defeated another in a metal cage._

_Then she was warning the man when another pulled a shotgun on him in a confrontation that made Eric wince over the danger she was in and Godric smile over her compassion._

_Next the two of them were riding together in a rusted truck, the man offering their Rogue food and talking to her._

"_What's your name, kid?"_

"_Rogue," she answered softly, her voice had only a faint hint of the strength the vampires were used to finding in her._

"_What kinda name is Rogue?" The man shot her a stern glance._

"_What kinda name is Wolverine?" She shot back with a familiar fire, making her vampires grin at her sass. At least she didn't unleash her temper only on them._

_The man chuckled a little, taking the cigar from his mouth._

"_Logan."_

"_Marie."_

_The scene changed again and Rogue's clothing with it. Now she's wearing a simple, childish white nightgown that reached her calves. She appeared to be sleeping in a well-appointed room only to wake up at the sound of a man's screaming. Following the sound she entered the adjoining room to find Logan tossing and turning, his sleep plagued by nightmares. Moving over to his side, she tried to wake him, calling out his name._

"_Don't do it, kid." Logan's phantom-self whispered from behind them and within moments they knew why._

_Reaching down she shook his shoulder, startling him awake. Still trapped in his nightmare, Logan unleashed his adamantium claws with a snikt and stabbed his dream-tormentor through the chest, only to come awake to his claws buried inside of the girl he'd saved. Retracting his claws he lunged to catch her as she fell, blood blooming darkly across her chest and back._

_Enraged by the scene, Eric started to lunge only to be brought up short by his Maker's voice._

"_She is still alive, my child." Godric reminded him softly. "And she said this was one of her good dreams. I would not be too hasty to interfere as yet."_

_They watched avidly as she reached up one hand and touched Logan gently along the cheek. The reaction was almost instantaneous as black lines appeared on Logan's face and they both were rendered unconscious._

"_I was in a coma for days." Logan said from behind them, the vampires turning to look at his remorseful face. "The kid woke up the next morning, fine as could be only with some new scars and a boat-load of guilt over usin' her powers on another mutant." He shook his head in disgust. "Some-a the things the others would say…"_

"_We almost lost her for good over a bunch of teenagers bein' dicks." Wolverine growled, arms folded and chewing aggressively on the end of a cigar. "Bunch-a assholes."_

_Voice from the dreams brought the vampires back around as a healed Rogue – only now with her white streaks – ran after a bag toting Logan._

"_You runnin' again?" She asked him saucily, hands on her hips._

"_Got some things I need to do, kid." Logan said gruffly. "Can't do 'em from here."_

_Watching her face carefully, neither vampire was surprised by her next words._

"_I'm gonna miss you." She said simply, looking away with bright eyes._

"_Here, kid." Logan took his dog-tags off and pressed them into one of her hands, folding her fingers closed over them. "I'll be back for these."_

_Shooting her a grin, Logan straddled One-Eyes bike and roared away from the school, Rogue watching him until he was out of sight._

_Disappearing from the scene, she reappeared at their sides with a nostalgic smile._

"_Never shoulda left you, kid." Logan and Wolverine said in stereo before Wolverine padded off to go haunt the shadowed forest she'd made just for him._

"_You wrote." She smiled at Logan as Eric and Godric wrapped their arms around her waist. "You were only gone a year, anyway. Not that long in the scheme of things."_

"_Long enough for you to take up with Ice-Prick." Logan grumbled scowling at his cigar. "Now there's somethin' ya should show your vamps." He gestured towards the dreamscape. "You and Ice-Prick. That little fucker would finally get what's comin' to 'im since ya wouldn't let me gut 'im like I wanted."_

_Rogue just rolled her eyes at the familiar complaint as Bobby's Psyke flipped off Logan behind his back, a sentiment Logan returned with his claws without even looking._

"_Every one of these phantoms," Godric studied them in fascination. "They represent an actual person you absorbed?"_

"_Something like that." Rogue said pointing to Logan and Wolverine. "They're from the same person but Logan has some serious psychological issues from both his past and a severe head-trauma. So Wolverine became his own entity similar to having a split personality. Only if Wolverine would stop being a stubborn ass," Rogue shouted at the hidden form in the shadows. "He could reintegrate himself into Logan's psyche. But they're both controlling assholes so I don't know when or if that would ever happen."_

_She shrugged. "And I've purged a lot of the personalities. These are the ones that are either permanent, whether I like it or not," she gave Magneto a glare. "Or that help me function in one way or another by helping with the temporary Psykes before I purge them or keeping the permanent squatters under control."_

"_And all of this is in your mind?" Eric looked around at the Psyke's domain. "Wait. When you get lost in thought…sometimes you are actually talking to them are you not?"_

_Rogue blushed uncontrollably as some of the Psykes – John and David of all people – snickered over her getting caught. Not even real-Logan has caught onto that before. Most people just think she's kinda flakey._

"_Yeah," she admitted as they all – even her Psyke's – watched her intently. "Mostly Logan and Erik," she pointed to the chess-playing mutant. "But Wolverine and John sometimes too."_

_Eric growled at the phantom form of John, the only one of the group besides Magneto that either vampire has met in person._

"_I remember him." Eric bared fang at the mutant. "He kissed you in front of me."_

"_And you let him live?" Godric asked in genuine surprise. His Viking has never been known for controlling his temper over what he considers "his."_

"_She wasn't taken yet, mate." John grinned wildly. "They'd never even spoken. Besides all that, it still woulda been worth it for a kiss from the shiela."_

_Waving one hand like a magician, Pyro made a theater screen appear as Rogue groaned, burying her face in her hands. She knows exactly what is coming next._

_The three of them were scooped up into movie-theater chairs as Rogue's attire was traded for her "neutral" outfit in her dreamscape of jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt in her favorite green. Stepping up to the podium, John – now dressed in a tuxedo – waved one hand towards the screen._

"_If you're gonna take out every guy who's ever been given a kiss by the lovely Rogue, mate." He said, grinning evilly. "Then you're gonna have to start at the beginning. Exhibit A:" The screen flickered to life, highlighting her disastrous first kiss, as Rogue curled up into a ball, hiding her blush as her vampires tossed their arms around her shoulders. "David. Gotta give the boy props for his claiming her first kiss but points are deducted since he spent three weeks in a coma as a result."_

_Rogue looked over at Psyke David that just gave her a sweet smile and a wink, mouthing "worth it."_

_Eric played with his vixen's hair as he watched the illuminating – and infuriating slide show. At least they all had to pay a price for having defiled her precious lips. Godric took things one step further, pressing a kiss of his own to her pouting lips, teasing a moan from her before she was through. Liking his Maker's idea, Eric copied him only he did not stop until John cleared his throat._

"_Next!" He shouted, bringing them back on point. "We have Ice-Dick."_

"_Asshole!" Bobby shouted from the back, only managing to gain a scathing glance from Rogue. She really needs to purge him. Maybe if she wakes before her vampires in the morning she can do it before they rise._

"_Who stole many a peck from his then-girlfriend." Bobby was shown with his arm around Rogue's shoulders, fighting alongside her in the Danger Room, and then handing her gloves at his parent's house. "But only really nutted-up once." They were shown that tentative first real kiss that was followed by Rogue's breathing frost before the two of them were locked in a heated embrace that literally made Bobby faint. "And from then on was too chicken-shit to touch our lovely damsel, preferring to fuck around behind her back leading up to Rogue walking in on him balls-deep in one of their teammates."_

_And there was one of the most embarrassing moments of her life played out in Technicolor: Bobby grunting on top of Kitty in his dorm room._

"_Your hair turned red." Eric commented noticing the change from the earlier images._

"_My hair is a result from two of my three permanent absorptions." She said, as Godric followed the line of her neck with his mouth, making her gasp her explanation. "Erik had white hair, Jean had red. Both nearly killed me and would have if not for Logan's healing power."_

_This time Eric took her mouth, determined to sear away all memory of that infantile-imbecilic "Bobby" from her heart and mind._

"_Then things get interesting." John chuckled, thinking about the hell that was going to rain down on Victor and Remy over the next images._

_The vampires continued to watch as they teased Rogue with kisses, one taking her mouth while the other would worship her bared neck and cleavage before switching, leaving her panting for more, for them to go further._

"_Victor formerly held the record for the most kisses stolen from our darling Rogue." Scene after scene of Victor flirting and teasing with Rogue when she would visit with John or he would find her carousing with Jubilee at a club flicked by on the screen._

"_Should have drained him," Eric hissed, biting down more firmly on the fleshy part of Rogue's exposed upper-breast._

"_But Remy," Eric went from hissing to a flat out snarl. "Gets the distinction of 'best kiss ever'…until she met Mr. Tall-Blonde-and-Fangy anyway."_

_Gasping, Rogue tossed her head back as both Godric and Eric bit down with their dull human teeth on the curve of her breasts. Panting she dug her hands into their hair, holding on for dear life as she felt herself begin to come without either of them ever touching her where she truly desired it._

*l*l*l*l*

Her back arching off of the bed, Rogue awoke with a scream as she came from her vampires' dreaming bites. Eric and Godric snapped awake as she did, noting that while they'd been in her dreamscape for what seemed like hours, mere minutes had passed in the waking world. Aroused nearly beyond baring – both by their shiny new bond connecting the three of them and the effects of the dream, they turned their burning eyes on the still-panting form of Rogue.

Sharing a glance, Eric shucked the t-shirt from her desire-flushed body as Godric shed his own clothes. Rejoining Rogue on the bed, Godric straddled her waist and tilted her head back, sealing her mouth in an urgent kiss as Eric shucked his clothing before joining them. Weeping erection bobbing, Eric prowled over to his lovers on the bed like a great cat, predatory eyes gleaming as they turned from their kiss to watch him as they felt him through their bond.

Casting his eyes over their forms, each of them so very different, Eric slid down beside them as he grabbed each of them by the back of their necks in a firm hand and pulled them gently to their knees until all three of them kneeled facing each other on his bed. Stroking a thumb down each of their throats, intoxicated by their dilated eyes and Rogue's pounding pulse, Eric took first Godric then Rogue in a furiously heated kiss, nipping and biting at each of their lips until he felt both of them were inflamed and aroused for him.

Keeping Rogue locked into a searing kiss, Eric stroked one hand down Godric's leanly chiseled body before taking his large erection in hand and giving it a hard, lush pump. Nipping at Rogue's kiss-bruised bottom lip, Eric drew blood only to lick it away as the minor cut healed. Caressing her cheek with the hand he had kept around her neck, he whispered huskily in her ear.

"I want to watch him fuck you while you pleasure me."

Blushing but intoxicated at his words, Rogue could only nod knowing at once exactly what Eric wanted. Cradling her in his arms, Godric took her in a rough kiss, letting part of his inner-beast come out to play. Watching them avidly as they played with each other, still kneeling in the position he put them in, hands caressing and teasing each other until their already-heightened desire rose to a fever-pitch, Eric reclined against the headboard. Sprawling with his legs wide, he idly stroked himself, waiting for them to obey his desire, never having any doubt in his mind that they would.

Hands coming to rest on Rogue's smooth shoulders, Godric turned her to face Eric. They both came down on all fours and crawled over to him as he watched with feral eyes as they came to him like a pair of bed-slaves preparing to serve the barbarian king he used to be. Rogue stopped between his spread thighs, leaning up to kiss her way down his washboard abs as Godric fisted Eric's long hair in one hand and took him in a deep, tongue twining kiss, swallowing Eric's moan when their little mate's hot mouth closed over the tip of his erection.

Nipping lightly at his Viking's jaw, Godric watched the play of sublime pleasure twisted across Eric's beautiful face. Kissing his way down Eric's long body from neck to chest to stomach, Godric bit lightly at first Eric's hip then Rogue's bicep just below her cuff before continuing. Now working his way down his little light's lush body as she panted and moaned around Eric's massive arousal - making the legendary lover groan and grab her head between his hands, fisting her wild mane of hair as the low light shone weakly on the diamonds on her hand and around her neck, fiercely excited by the proof of his possession, Eric guided her to a fast and furious pace – while Godric lifted her up onto her knees once more.

Taking in the cock-hardening view before him, Godric pressed himself against her, stroking his arousal lightly, teasingly, along her drenched passage. Sawing his hips as he watched them – his Viking and his little light – Godric coated his own hard pillar of flesh in her silky fluids, bumping her clit with every pass. As he saw Eric throw his head back, he slammed his hips forward, taking her in one swift, punishing motion that had her keening in delight around Eric's pulsing dick.

Godric set a brutal pace, forcing her forward onto Eric's erection with every hard stimulating stroke. Feeling the connection between them begin to spiral out of control, Godric gave one, two, three stiff thrusts before his whole body went rigid as the three of them spiraled out of control together, Rogue's passage pulsing around him as he and Eric shouted their joy in her to the heavens.

*l*l*l*l*

Laying limp along Eric's hip and thigh – although thankfully not once again unconscious – Rogue tried to catch her breath after her mind-numbing and body-quaking orgasm. Sex with Eric is amazing. Sex – even though it was more heavy petting when they exchanged blood – with Godric is wonderful. Sex with both of them? Earth-shattering.

She felt a secondary aftershock pulse through her as Godric pulled away from her with a groan, making her two – _two – _lovers moan right along with her. She mewled lightly as Godric picked her up in his wiry arms and carried her up to rest between them on the pillows. At last catching a breath as the three of them snuggled, content in their post-coital bliss, she voiced what they all were thinking.

"Do you think that is going to happen every time?" She asked, burrowing into Godric's chest as he stroked one hand down her hair and Eric spooned up against her. "The one of us going off and making the others come with us thing?"

"Since it has happened twice in a row," Eric chuckled, thinking of some inventive uses for that little quirk of their bond. "It does seem likely."

Godric hummed in agreement, too pleased with the turn his unending existence has taken since she pulled him into that first dream.

"We are going to have to leave this bed at some point." Godric said regretfully as Rogue gave a wordless protest and snuggled further into his side, pulling Eric's arm around her waist. "There are quite a few things that need taken care of that are not possible for us to handle whilst hiding from the outside world."

"Buzz-kill." Rogue complained as she popped one eye open.

"He _is_ the responsible one." Eric said in a teasing mock-whisper, nipping as was his habit at the curve of Rogue's ear.

"And you are the reckless one." Godric said arching a brow at him over Rogue's head. "Or would you like me to regale our little mate with the story about the princess and the bear?"

"I'm getting up." Eric said at once, climbing to his feet. "You never need to tell that story again. _Ever._"

"Oh, Eric." She pouted and batted her lashes at him as he plucked her from the pillows and carried her into the shower. "But now I want to hear all about it." She teased, giving him a smacking kiss on one cheek, Godric following them in amusement.

Turning on the water, he tossed her under knowing she would use her powers to keep from falling. Rogue gave an ear-piercing shriek as the ice-cold water hit her skin, instantly making a bubble around her with her telekinesis.

"Ok, ok!" She shouted, flipping her down-drenched hair out of her face as she stuck her tongue out at the highly-amused vampires who were watching her from outside the stall. "I give. Keep your story to yourself then."

"I will." Eric said firmly, pressing the button on the electronic control for the temperature he knew she preferred before joining her, Godric at his side.

*l*l*l*l*

After their shower – which led to another three-way-orgasm – Rogue pulled on her two-day-old pants that she covered with another one of Eric's tanks while Godric redressed in his still-clean clothes he put on back in Dallas earlier that night. Walking out of his closet in another all-black ensemble for Fangtasia, he saw the two of them snuggling fully dressed and in the middle of a conversation.

"What are the two of you conspiring about?" He asked, pulling his hair back from his temples and braiding it in the warrior style of his human life, a fashion he hasn't worn in centuries this time with his Maker and seeing Rogue's past making him rather uncharacteristically nostalgic.

"We were discussing Godric's move." Rogue said, resting her head – her own hair braided to match Eric's courtesy of Godric's intuition and nimble hands – on said vampire's chest as she watched Eric prowl around the room while he finished getting ready. "Although I'm still not one-hundred percent on what we decided as far as housing was concerned."

"I think," Eric said, sitting down beside them his black leather jacket thrown over one arm, and giving her a buss on her forehead. "That we need to be where you are most comfortable. It will be much simpler to move my things to your home than to recreate your lair here."

Giving him a beaming smile, Rogue threw her arms around his neck and gave him a resounding kiss in thanks. Holding her by her hips, Eric smirked at her enjoying her responsiveness.

"Why do we not," Godric suggested, tangling his hand with one of Eric's that rested on her hip. "visit your home while Eric goes to Fangtasia to fill out the necessary paperwork regarding our mating. I can send off my resignation from any computer and that will give Rogue a little bit of time to grow more comfortable in my presence before being exposed to our people in general."

Saddened by the fact that this plan would have him separated from his mates but excepting of his Maker's need to bond with Rogue as well as the expediency of the plan: Rogue and Godric could take some of his things with them to their new home while he dealt with the legal necessities, Eric agreed. Giving both of his lovers a deep, sultry kiss, Eric took his leave to go deal with politics and paperwork after supplying a list of things that they could easily hit in the trunk of Rogue's SLS.

Leaving Rogue and Godric alone for the first time since their joint dream.


	24. Chapter 23

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

"_In your presence my heart knows no shame…"_

_- From "Not Strong Enough" Apocolyptica ft. Brent Smith_

Rogue stood anxiously beside the open trunk of her SLS as Godric vamp-sped around Eric's house collecting the things Eric asked them to bring over while he was dealing with the paperwork needed to confirm her status among the vampires. So much has happened in the last twelve hours – it felt more like a week than part of a night. Dreams of the horrifying, embarrassing, and revealing kinds shared with both her lovers.

Finding out that she _has_ two lovers, er, mates.

Now all of a sudden she's not just Eric's Bonded, she's Eric's and Godric's True Mate. And the biggest thing at least for her – they were all moving in to her home together.

The last time she lived with a boyfriend she wound up walking in on Bobby balls deep in Kitty's kitty.

Well…that's one thing she doesn't have to worry about with her vampires. They've both made it more than clear that they find her eminently desirable and have told her point-blank that all three of them are going to belong together until they no longer walk this earth. Heady stuff for a mutant that was convinced for the last eight years that she would be alone forever with only occasional visits from Logan and Victor to look forward too.

She glanced down at the beautiful – and heavy – diamond ring gave her with a bemused smile. No one coming within a hundred yards of her could say they didn't know she was taken with this thing on her finger. Which was probably part of the reasons why Eric bought it. As Godric closed the door behind him and reset the alarm, a large wrapped bundle cradled in the curve of one arm, she shot him a covert little look. Eric's "bonding" gift – both of them – were very in keeping with his personality, not finding it necessary to flaunt his status but still making sure everyone was aware of hers. Rogue couldn't help but wonder what kind of gift Godric, with his more mellow personality and greater age, would find appropriate for his new mate.

Rogue just hopes it not another giant ring or else she's going to have to get custom-made gloves to accommodate the added bulk to her hands. Working the tight leather of her riding gloves over her current ring was already a lost cause, forcing her to wear either her cotton or silk knit gloves instead.

Godric sped over to her side, jolting her from her thoughts as he placed the bundle in the trunk with care. Eric would take it out of his hide if he nicked the blade on his sword. Plus Rogue would be irritated if he damaged "her precious" as Eric calls her car.

Rogue eyed the bundle speculatively but shook it off, climbing into the driver's seat while Godric held her door like a gentleman before vamping over and into the passenger side.

"You seem nervous,_ lígo fo̱s mou." (My little light.)_ He commented with a gentle smile as she blushed before steering the fine vehicle out of Eric's drive and set off for her home in Bon Temps.

"It's just," she sent him a shy glance from under lowered lashes. "I've never really spent any time alone with you. Not really. And now here you are and you're my mate and…" she shrugged helplessly, hands firmly on the wheel. "It's a lot to take in for someone who'd never thought to even have _one_ lover let alone two that come with forever attached."

"I can understand that, little one." He replied gently, pleased that she was being open with him about her misgivings regarding the situation. To be honest he would've been gravely concerned if she never had any doubts or fears while entering into a whole new life, let alone one as drastically different from her previous one as this. "Neither Eric nor I ever thought we would find a mate, let alone share one between us. We are both finding our path in this situation the same as you. However as vampires we were prepared for the unlikely event that we found a mate and our society has maintained a set of protocols for newly mated vampires so we are not completely adrift."

"About that," she commented as she shifted gears absently. "There's no rule book that I was raised with for becoming involved with two men at the same time. It's more the opposite really, I was taught how _not_ to end up in a situation like that. I'm just afraid that I'm going to end up doing something to upset one of you without knowing it."

"The three of us will find our way together," Godric stroked the back of his hand down her cheek. "That is what being mates means. It is not my life, your life, or Eric's life anymore. It is all of us together. What effects one of us effects all of us. We will be fine, little love." She gave him a blushing smile at the endearment. "It will simply take time, something all of us have in abundance."

Coming around the curve leading to her driveway, Rogue gestured towards the windshield with one hand before downshifting.

"There it is."

Godric arched a brow at the view from the car as she waited for the garage door to retract before pulling in. Eric was not joking when he called it a plantation house. Two stories plus an attic of freshly gleaming white wooden siding, it soared in the manicured lawns surrounding it with the shadowed bayou and Spanish-moss draped trees set in the background. His mate walked over to a panel on the wall and entered a security code before opening the door and ushering him inside.

"I want to show you the underground rooms I've taken to calling my lair before the rest of the house since that's where you and Eric will stay during the daylight hours until I can get some of those light-tight shutters installed like Eric has." She explained as she brought him into the lower rooms. "Besides I need to get you entered into my security system like Eric is."

Godric followed her through the house, noticing as they walked that she tended towards elegant, timeless furnishings but that the home still felt warm and inviting. Like Eric, he was surprised by the level of security that his little mate maintained in her personal space but with a mutation as potentially dangerous as hers, he could understand why she was so careful to keep others out of her space unless invited. Once downstairs he laughed, immediately knowing why Eric and Rogue called the subbasement her lair.

The sprawling complex was to his discerning eye just as large as the house it sits beneath, with hallways shooting off from the main grouping of rooms in all directions, leading to living quarters, her workout area – both physical and for her powers – and many others. After Rogue helped him set up his security code and thumb scan and explained the underground complex, house, and where the egress routes were located and where they ended, she watched in amusement as he was drawn to the exact same portion of her lair as his progeny.

He studied the array of swords and daggers displayed in her "dojo area" with pleasure. Before he was a vampire, he was a slave, and before he was a slave he was a warrior. An excellent warrior in fact. But once Caesar decided to conquer his native Gaul there was no changing his inevitable defeat. He explained that part of his history – fighting against the Roman army – as he examined and played with a few of her weapons. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something unusual as he turned to follow Rogue from the room and bring Eric's things in from the car.

"What goes here?" He asked her pointing to a large empty rack on the back wall. It was positioned beside a pair of katanas made from the same metal as her arm cuff – adamantium she had explained while telling about the complex and what the security measures and reinforcements are.

Rogue shot him an amused look. "Eric's sword that I saw you put in my trunk. A sword that wasn't on his list by-the-way. I made and mounted it with my power while you were playing with my collection."

Godric rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He had a hard time believing that he became so engrossed in the weaponry and telling her about Gaul that he did not notice her doing something like that. Eric was going to get no end of amusement from that gap in his instincts.

"It's getting early," she said in concern, noticing the time. "I hope he gets here soon. And don't you have to send an email or two to wrap up your responsibilities in Dallas and arrange to have your things shipped?"

He nodded, walking over to her side and escorting her upstairs. "I want to see where you live first." He said simply. "I saw where you fight and where you stayed when Eric came over, now I want to see where you live."

"Sadly," she said casting him a flirtatious look. "Fighting and sleeping with Eric _is_ my life. Except for the couple times a week where I visit with my family and shoot pool with Jason at Merlotte's all I've done lately is keep up my training, build my house, and flirt with Eric."

"We shall have to fix that, little one." Godric decided at that moment that she would be courted – by both of her mates. She deserved nothing less. And while the life she described no doubt made her happy – if her glowing skin was any indication – it was not fulfilling all her needs. "You are young and vibrant. You should not be spending all your time tucked away here. Eric and I will see to it."

Coming to a stop before her bedroom door she cast him a sultry glance. "I think I'll like that." Opening the door with one hand, she took his in the other, leading him into her bedroom with the heat of a primal promise in her eyes.

"Did you happen to catch that look on Eric's face when we were talking about our combined pleasure?" She asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling him to stand before her as she laid back, her hair fanning out behind her.

"The one of complete mischievous intent?" Godric chuckled huskily as he crouched over her, her lush body spread out temptingly before him. "How could I not?"

"I think we should beat him to the punch." She purred as she looped her arms around his neck, a heated gaze from his blue eyes burning into her and setting her already humming libido aflame. "Surprise him in more ways than one."

"Hmm," Godric hummed, nipping at her neck with his blunt human teeth. "I do like the way you think, little love."

Gasping, she arched her neck in pleasure as he roughly palmed her breasts before stripping them both with vamp strength and speed.

*l*l*l*l*

At Fangtasia, Eric suddenly cut Pam off mid-sentence as a wave of pure animal desire and womanly heat pulsed along his mating bond. _Those little monsters._ He laughed to himself, rising from his chair.

"What is it, Master?" Pam asked, confusion all over her lovely face.

"It seems my mates are trying to prank me." He said with a smirk. "I wonder if I can make it to them before they succeed?"

"The bond?" Pam laughed. "I didn't think your little mutant had it in her. Or is this my GrandSire living up to his controlling reputation?"

"Oh, Rogue started this, definitely." He said over his shoulder as he strode out the back entrance. "Here's hoping I can finish it without getting _finished off_ before I reach them."

Pam just shook her head and chuckled. If she can get past her general dislike of her Master being mated, she has a feeling she'll like this breather. After all, they're both going to be around for a long, long time. It would be better to have at least a cordial relationship with the creature.


	25. Chapter 24

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_Author's Note: We're almost to the finish line! Some longer chapters coming but I'm thinking only about 10 chapters left to get where I want to stop with this. For now. I might decide later to write a sequel and I'm thinking about writing a sister-story that covers Remy/Sookie in further detail instead of just skimming but I have A LOT of plot bunnies running around for Rogue fics. Insert Shameless Plug here: my newest Rogue fic is going to be called Pack Challenge and it's a Rogue/Victor/Logan AU._

_**Lemon Warning! Rogue/Godric and Rogue/Godric/Eric naughtiness ahead! **__Also contains a visit from Rogue's "cousin" Kurt since Mystique isn't Rogue's mom in this fic. Logan in next chapter which will probably have a lot of fighting in it this being the last true lemon for awhile._

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Rogue gasped as Godric set a slow and excruciating pace of thrusts, arching her head back against her pillows. He'd bound her hands over her head to one of the crossbraces on her wide bed before setting out to torment them both – and Eric along with them – with a slow and through loving. And it was loving. Every kiss, every caress, even every bite from his fangs was loving.

Controlling like Eric had warned, but she's never felt so thoroughly loved in a physical way. Their bond is wonderful and makes her feel like the most beloved woman on the planet but that's all emotional and mental. With her history she craves the physical. A craving Godric and Eric have no problem sating.

Godric stifled a chuckle at the high keening whine that he pulled from her mouth with a surprisingly hard thrust, sending her nearly to her peak and holding her there in delicious torment. His little love would not appreciate his masculine amusement at this precise moment in time. While teasing Eric through their bond had been her idea, he quickly took control of the situation, stripping them and binding her hands although she could free herself easily enough if she truly wished.

"God-Godric, please." She gasped, head tossing frantically on the sheets, her lush ivory skin pooling with the most tempting of blushes. Her mouth curling around his shoulder and her teeth digging sharply into his skin, nearly drawing blood as she sent the faint hint of pain/pleasure coursing through him.

He felt his fangs descend with a click as he growled at the sight below him, thrusting his hips in another long slow movement, dragging himself through her silken folds at an exacting pace.

"You little monsters." They both heard the growled words coming from the open doorway, both having been too lost in their pleasure to hear the tell-tale sounds of Eric entering the house and rushing up the stairs.

Eric dragged his burning ice-blue gaze over their joined figures on the bed, taking note of Rogue's bound and frantic state. His master was definitely up to his old tricks, keeping her on the cusp of pleasure but not allowing her – and them with her – to tip over the edge. Eric felt her desperate heat and Godric's steely – but faltering – control. Stripping off his clothes and revealing his pulsating arousal – a by-product of both their bond and the scene he walked in on – he strode over to the bed and took each of them in a burning, punishing kiss more fang and teeth than lips.

Ripping Rogue's bonds away, he flipped her onto her knees straddling him as Godric moved up with a feral look at them. With a groan Eric thrust up into her and Godric gathered some of her gushing fluids and coated her back entrance before joining his progeny inside their mate. With a short little scream, Rogue adjusted to being over-filled by her two vampires and shuddered as the three of them panted and groaned together, straining for the release Godric had denied her until Eric arrived. Rocking on her knees between them she gasped as Eric lowered his fangs and her vampires swiftly bit her throwing them over the cliff and into ecstasy.

*l*l*l*l*

"You two really are little monsters." Eric said as they laid back on the bed in the subbasement after cleaning themselves up and moving safely out of the path of the coming sun.

Rogue just giggled from her space cuddled between her loves as they each idly stroked her hair and back while she rested her head on Godric's sculpted chest.

"You're just peeved we thought of it first." She teased, looking up and over Eric's arm at encircled both herself and her undead pillow at the Viking. "You have to admit…it got you to come home instead of having to stay the day at Fangtasia because you got too wrapped up in business."

Eric smirked. "And it had nothing to do with you being a little minx and Godric wanting to play with his new mate?" He arched a disbelieving brow. He had felt all night Godric's desire to start testing Rogue's sexual limits. One of the key differences between the two vampires: he was all desire and spontaneity while Godric was much more controlled, even to the point of being a true dominant at times. But that was his Master's way. After his history from his human years, the eternally young vampire liked having control of things in most areas of his life. Eric is one of the few Godric has ever trusted to give him even the slightest of commands in the bedroom.

The only answer Eric received to his charge was a giggle from his vixen and a soft chuckle from his maker, neither feeling the need to admit something he already knew.

Rogue gave a big yawn before snuggling deeper into her cocoon of vampires, missing the loving smiles traded by her vampires over her head.

"Shush you." She said sleepily. "You two get to sleep the day away while I have to prep the house for visitors."

"Visitors?" They exchanged a startled look over her head. "What visitors, little light?" Godric asked.

"Logan's going to be here soon." She said, nearly asleep. "Maybe others, maybe not."

That was all they got from her before she fell asleep and they succumbed to the day sleep.

*l*l*l*l*

"Kurt!" Rogue gave a happy squeal much later that morning when the blue mutant bamfed into her kitchen as she was making a list of supplies she would need to lay in for Logan. Definitely need more steak and beer. She was ok on whiskey and bourbon but after having Victor over she was running low on Molson and steak.

"_Mein Freund." (My friend.)_ Kurt said in German, knowing Rogue was one of the few X-Men who spoke his language. _"Ich komme mit Botschaft von Logan." (I come with tidings from Logan.)_ He returned her hug, picking her up off her feet with an absent strength most people would never think the teleporter would possess.

"Of course you do." She said rolling her eyes. Because just calling her when Kurt would be more than happy to teleport to her – being the only one of the X-Men to have visited her home with her before – would be too easy. "What does Captain Cranky not wanna tell me himself?" She asked with a sigh as he showed him to an easy chair in the living area adjacent to the kitchen and fetching him some lemonade.

Kurt shifted uncomfortably. He knew she wasn't going to like what he convey from Logan but he was one of the only people who could do it without Rogue taking out her wrath on him. She likes him too much besides him being her cousin.

"_Er hat einige der jüngeren X-Men und brachte für Sie zu testen und Zug, während er hier ist." (He's bringing some of the younger X-Men with him for you to test and train while he's here." _He spit out rapidly before taking a deep drink of his lemonade, watching her carefully for any signs of her temper spiraling out of control.

"Which X-Men?" She asked icily, her eyes pinning him to his chair while she restrained herself from killing the messenger.

"Jubilee, Piotr…and Bobby."

Kurt nearly bamfed away in astonishment at the loud snarl she gave at the last name. It was common knowledge that there was still bad blood between his cousin and Bobby and Kitty but he never expected such an extreme reaction after all this time. Although to his knowledge she's never spent any time at all around either of the other former students over the last several years so it isn't that surprising.

"_Gott im Himmel." (God in Heaven.) _Rogue swore borrowing the only phrase the pious Kurt won't take extreme offense to in order to vent her frustration with Storm. She knew this wasn't Logan's idea. He can't stand to be around Bobby any more than she can.

Eric and Godric are going to go fucking insane.

With Bobby showing up on what has become their territory and their knowledge of his history with their mate….this is not going to go well.

She just hopes that Bobby has enough sense to keep a low profile until he's back in New York or she can't be sure of his safety in coming here. This all reeks of one of Storm's little ideas to force them all to reconcile so Rogue – and their biggest weapon – will come back to the X-Men. Only this time the likelihood of bloodshed is amplified a million times over by her mating a pair of ancient vampires…something no one knows about outside of the vampire society.

Hopefully Remy warned Logan about Eric. She really, really doesn't want to have to referee the two of them while simultaneously keeping Bobby in one piece.

Goddamnit all.

"Are you staying Kurt?" She asked once she had her anger under control.

"_Wenn Sie mir zu haben. Ich habe meine Cousine vermisst." (If you will have me. I've missed my cousin.)_ He said bashfully. Rogue was the only "good" family he had. With Mystique for a mother, Azazel for a father, and a mutant-hating half-brother, Rogue really is the only family Kurt has besides his brothers in the church. He gave a little tug to his white priest's collar. He was just happy that Rogue offered him a permanent place ministering at the Manor with his own little cottage attached to the small intimate church she built on the grounds.

He didn't want to think about how badly some people would react to having a blue-betailed-priest giving them the sacraments.

"You always have a home with me." Rogue gave him a soft smile as she reached over and gave his clawed hand a squeeze. "Let's get you set up and then I'll tell you all about my vampires."

"_Ihre Vampires?" (Your vampires?)_ He asked in shock. He knew of the creatures of course. Undead made through a kind of blood magic but he never thought he would come in contact with them. Let alone hear his precious cousin being possessive of some of them.

"Yep." She said with a secretive little smile. "My vampires."


	26. Chapter 25

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: Time for Logan Time…_

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Rogue's vampires came awake with the knowledge that someone other than their mate was above them in their new home. Before either of them could speed upstairs – a rather foolish endeavor since the sun was still an hour or so from setting – Rogue came to the bedroom doorway and smiled at them.

"I felt you two were close to rising." She said, moving to give them each a long slow kiss as they remained reclining on the bed, her ease showing them that whoever was above wasn't a threat.

"We have company?" Godric asked, after the three of them shared a few affectionate caresses. Normally they would jump right into sating their desires upon rising but her last words before sleeping and the presence of someone else in their home stayed them.

"Hmm." Rogue hummed softly as she moved to straddle Eric, tangling one hand in his long messy hair. She had no such qualms about getting up to no good before sating their curiosity. "My cousin Kurt came to visit ahead of Logan."

More than happy to oblige his little mate, Eric tumbled her down onto the sheets between himself and Godric who was watching them in amusement. Before they could really get going, Godric tugged him off her with a hand on his shoulder and pinned her in place himself, staring at her with an arched brow.

"And when _is_ your growly father-figure going to be here?" He asked pleasantly, ignoring her minor struggles and attempts to rouse his desire. A futile endeavor, Godric is not nearly as easily distracted as Eric can be at times by carnal pleasures. Even when the person in question is so very tempting as their mate.

Sighing in frustration at his refusal to let her have her way, Rogue rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders against the sheets.

"Tonight, tomorrow." She snorted thinking about Logan's version of time management. "Could be next year. He's really bad at noticing time passing. But since he sent Kurt ahead I would think sometime tonight."

Godric kept her pinned to the bed with by straddling her hips as he reached over and drew Eric to them, taking his progeny in a scorching kiss as Rogue reached up and tangled her fingers in the hair at their necks.

"Now can we play?" She asked, thoroughly aroused by both the scene above her and Godric's take-charge attitude.

"Yes, little love." Godric broke away from Eric's nipping kisses, taking her wrists in hand and pinning her to their bed. "Now we can play."

*l*l*l*l*

After sating – temporarily at least – their desires both for sex and blood, the three of them showered and got dressed before heading upstairs.

Knowing full-well that they were going to meet at least one member of Rogue's family, Godric threw on the nicer change of clothes of the few things he kept at Eric's in case of emergency and then brought to Rogue's home. The tailored cream linen slacks, dark blue silk long-sleeved button down that matched his eyes, crisp white jacket, and white leather belt might not be the best match for his brown motorcycle boots that he wore the night before, but it was better than jeans and a t-shirt. Eric on the other hand went with his normal all-black only in leather. Leather pants, leather motorcycle boots, leather jacket, and a black silk t-shirt underneath it all.

Their Rogue's attire was somewhat perplexing for Godric. From what he understood, both from his conversations with herself and Eric _and_ from the shared dreams, when his little light was going to be around a group of people she generally tried to cover every inch of skin in one way or another. Usually by utilizing stockings, gloves, scarves, etc. The only exception was Fangtasia, her confidence in Eric's protection – up to and including keeping humans from touching her – such that she loosened her clothing strictures there.

Tonight she was nowhere near covered from head-to-toe as he would expect.

Indeed, Godric would say her mood and subsequent choice in attire was rather…dangerous.

Which made both himself and Eric rock-hard in a matter of moments when they clued into it.

She was matching both of them after a fashion. Like Eric her clothing was all-leather, an affection for the material something the two of them shared. But like Godric she went light instead of dark. Her tiny leather shorts were a dark blue that matched Godric's shirt, with knee-high white leather boots and a miniscule white leather halter top that bared a good portion of her back, shoulders, and stomach. The only nod to her mutation was the white leather jacket and wrist-length gloves she put on before leaving the basement. Her hair was down and in a wild mane all around her head and shoulders, tumbling down her back while she'd slicked her mouth with something that made it shine blood-red.

Yes, his little mate was in a dangerous mood.

Her vampires could hardly restrain themselves from locking her in their bedroom and not letting her out.

Only her transparent excitement to introduce them to her cousin coming strongly through their bond kept them from following through on that shared desire.

For the moment at least.

The night is young after all.

*l*l*l*l*

Rogue bounced into the kitchen with her loves following patiently behind her, already warned about Kurt's rather shocking appearance for those who've never made her cousin's appearance before.

"Kurt!" She beamed a smile, holding out her hand for him to take as he rose from his seat at the island, setting down his cup of tea at their entrance. "These are my mates. Godric," she brought him over to them, motioning to the younger-looking vampire first. "And Eric."

"_Schön, Sie zu treffen, Godric und Eric." (Nice to meet you, Godric and Eric.) _Kurt nodded to each of the vampires in turn, being cautious in his manner. He didn't want to offend his cousin but neither is he certain of her choice in lovers. Although he is gladdened that she has found happiness, he is still a Catholic priest and would prefer she was married in the church to another of their faith. _"Ich bin Rogue Cousin, Kurt." (I am Rogue's cousin, Kurt.)_

"_Guten Abend, Kurt." (Good evening, Kurt.) _Godric and Eric said in turn before Eric took the lead, Godric preferring to observe for the moment, sensing the blue mutant's discomfort with the situation.

"_Wir sind beide froh, ein Mitglied unserer Familie Liebe zu erfüllen." (We are both pleased to meet a member of our love's family.) _Eric said smoothly, seeing the pleased reaction the mutant had to being spoken to in his own language.

"I told you they probably spoke German." Rogue teased her cousin, having caught his look of surprise at Eric's words herself.

"_Also Sie getan haben." (So you did.) _Kurt said ruefully. _"Ich bin glücklich, zu sehen, Sie so glücklich, Vetter." (I am happy to see you so happy, cousin.)_

Sending a mischievous look at her vampires who looked rather pleased themselves over the implied compliment he just paid them, Rogue pulled up Jean's power for a moment to send Kurt a private thought that would do nothing but inflate their egos even further if she said it aloud.

_What woman wouldn't be with them in her bed?_

Rogue burst into laughter at the bright-purple coloring of Kurt's cheeks – his version of a heated blush – over her teasing.

"I am unsure about what just happened," Godric commented arching a brow at his little mate as they all moved into the living room. "But you shouldn't tease your cousin so. He is a man of the cloth."

"Sorry, Kurt." Rogue smothered her giggles as Eric sent her a knowing smirk, having a good idea about what sort of comment would have the priest reacting that way.

Before the Viking could pressure her into admitting to whatever naughtiness she was teasing her cousin with her head whipped towards the front door and she gave a groan.

"Perfect timing, as usual." She grumbled, a scowl marring her lovely face for the briefest of moments before smoothing out. "Just when I was enjoying myself."

"_Es wird nicht so schlimm sein." (It won't be that bad.) _Kurt tried to console his cousin who had been fuming over Bobby's imminent arrival for most of the day as she carried out her chores and errands with his help. He particularly enjoyed meeting her other cousin's grandmother Ms. Adele and was looking forward to talking with her further over the next few days.

Rogue just gave a snort and an eye roll in answer to that as she moved to answer the door. She was standing before it with her vampires flanking her back and tapping one foot by the time the X-Men made it onto her porch, her senses working overtime when it came to Logan. She has so much of him in her that he's easy for her to sense when he is close by.

"Ready to meet her dad?" Eric asked his Maker jokingly.

"Are you?" Godric countered with an arch look. "Somehow of the two of us I have a feeling _you_ are going to be found more suspect."

"Only because you have that innocent appearance." Eric complained. "_You _are by far the more deadly of the two of us."

Sending them a fulminating look, Rogue took a deep breath and opened the door.

*l*l*l*l*

Logan was itching to see his little Marie. He didn't approve of her leaving the Manor in the first place although he of all people couldn't argue with her need to go. Stupid damned Ice-Prick. What kinda guy gets a shot with a girl like Rogue and blows it for Christ's sake?

Then he got that fucking all from Gumbo, telling him that she was being all emo-and-shit again. Last time that happened, it was 'Tooth calling and he had to go all the way to fucking Japan to talk some sense into her before she did something irrevocable. Only the call he got a day or so after Gumbo's from 'Tooth kept him from ditching the mission altogether and hauling ass to Bon Temps.

Although he still isn't happy about what 'Tooth had to say. Undead fucker buzzing around _his_ little Marie.

What-the-fuck?

Then 'Ro had to go and insist that he take some of the junior-geeks with him. Fine. Whatever. But _then_ she said Ice-Dick _had_ to go.

Like him and Rogue won't see right through that.

'Ro wants the Rogue back and fightin' for the X-Men.

Like he's gonna let that happen.

If the kid finally has a shot at bein' happy, he's gonna make damn sure mutant-fucking-politics doesn't get in the damned way. She deserves it more'n anyone else he knows. He's just glad she didn't find her happy with 'Tooth. No damned way did he want that big bastard as a son-in-law.

The undead fucker just might be an upgrade over that. Might be.

So here he is, standin' on the front porch of her house – and what a house – waitin' on her to open the damned door. He knows _she_ knows they're there. He can smell 'er and a coupla others in there with her. He's got the firecracker, tin-man, and Ice-Ass with him, which is probably the problem. He doesn't know what arrangements she's made but he highly doubts she wants Ice-Douche in her home.

Can't say that he'd blame her for that either.

Grinning around the cigar he was chewing on, Logan saw what she was wearing when she opened the door. A don't-fuckin'-touch-me outfit if there ever was one for Ice-Prick's benefit no doubt. Like Logan gave a fuck.

Pulling her into his arms, he picked her up and whirled her around in a bear hug right there on her porch, ignoring the mini-X-Men scattering as he came close to hittin' them with her.

"Hey darlin'." He smirked at her as he gave her a whopping kiss on the forehead. "How ya doin'?"

oOoOoOo

"Iceman is staying next door." Rogue said once Logan let her go, putting her back on her feet. She looked directly at her dad, refusing to even glace at the pouting blonde. "With Ms. Adele. Jubes and Pete too. Kurt will take them."

With a bamf, Kurt appeared on the porch behind the group and collected the younger mutants before they could get caught up in the family reunion. The last thing Rogue wants is her private business getting spread around the Manor and Jubilee isn't known for her discretion. Besides that, one confrontation between a mutant and her vampires a night is more than enough and tonight her money was on Logan and Eric going a few rounds.

Flicking a look over her shoulder at the two men – vampires he could tell from their scents – standing behind her Logan gave her a knowing smirk. He was as aware as she was of the possible clash the might break out between himself and the big blonde that matched 'Tooth's description.

"_Anata wa watashi o shōkai suru tsumoridesu ka?" (Are you going to introduce me?) _He asked her mockingly in Japanese, taking a gamble on the extremely-Caucasian vampires not knowing the language. A guess that turned out to be right on the money judging by the looks the two passed between themselves and their own privately-worded mini-conversation.

"_Vilket språk var det?" (What language was that?) _Eric asked his Maker in Swedish. The rapid sounds pouring from the scruffy mutant flying right over his head. He's learned many languages in the last thousand years but not that one.

"_Japanska jag skulle satsa." (Japanese I would wager.) _Godric replied thinking about the temple in Rogue's dream.

"_Hai, otōsan."_ (_Yes, Dad.)_ Rogue answered Logan with a grin, happy as a clam that she has a chance to drive Eric as nuts over not understanding what's going on as he's driven her with his constant talking around her in Swedish and Norwegian. About time the tables were turned on the sometimes-annoying but chronically-gorgeous vampire.

"Logan these are my mates." She said calmly, ignoring Logan's arched brow at the plural. "Eric Northman and Godric Thanatos. Eric, Godric, this is my dad Logan Howlett." Godric came from a time where most people didn't have surnames as he had explained to her when she asked. Thanatos was his Maker's name. Eric simply refused to use his mortal surname for some reason neither vampire wanted to explain, going by the simple Northman instead.

"Mates?" Logan shook his head. Only his Marie would manage to wind up bound to not one but two vampires after spending a decade cut-off from most human contact.

"Mates." Eric said nearly in growl with a flash of fang that Logan answered with a growl of his own and the snickt of his claws being unleashed.

Rogue rolled her eyes at the expected display while Godric cocked his head over the strange claws the mutant had. That was not a normal mutation by any means from what his little mate has explained about the nature of how the X-gene worked.

"Experimentation?" Godric whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine as the other two males continued their posturing. Rogue turned her head, showing him the sadness in her eyes as she nodded. Godric shook his head in disgust. Some of the barbarism man is capable of still surprises him even after all these years.

Speaking up, Rogue broke into the quickly escalating dominance display between two of her favorite people as the growls turned into biting insults.

"You're not doing this out here in front of God and everybody." She said, casting them a chiding look. "If y'all have to go around before you can be cordial, at least take it downstairs where there's not a chance of your fight getting on the internet or something."

No longer cursing at each other but still glaring, Eric and Logan followed Rogue as she wrapped her arm around Godric's waist and led them down into the basement. At the least down here the damage will be contained by the adamantium-laced walls. If she let them go at it outside they could very well level the house and garage based on her own experiences with Logan's fighting abilities and what she's been told about Eric, both from the vampire himself and Godric's stories about how they met.

She led them straight into the dojo, tossing Eric his long sword. Ignoring the look he shot her over her having his prized possession hanging on her wall, she tossed a comment over her shoulder as she chose a weapon for Logan from her collection.

"Blame Godric."

"I can use my claws, kid." Logan grunted as she tried to hand him his katana that she kept for him – not the adamantium one that matches her own.

"You're not destroying a priceless antique because you don' like it's owner." She said firmly, forcing him to retract his claws and take the sword before she moved from between them.

"Are you sure about this?" Was all Godric had to say, confident in his progeny's abilities.

"Better this than the alternative." Rogue laughed as they went at each other with a resounding clang that made her wince. "At least this way they won't permanently damage each other. I kinda like havin' both of them in one piece."

Eric and Logan ignored the byplay between their audience, both wrapped up in the fight for their own reasons. For Logan it was all about testing out his girl's choice of mates. Had to make sure that they could protect her, even though she doesn't really need protecting. He also needed the fight to scrub the images knowing she was in a kinda threesome arrangement outta his head. At least one-a the three has a calm head about him. That Godric fella is gonna need it to deal with his Marie and the big blonde bastard for the rest of forever.

For Eric the fight was more a game than serious. Yes, he understood Rogue's surrogate father wanting to make sure she was taken care of. He came from a time where such behavior was the norm. Fathers in his human days often chose their daughter's spouse to ensure they would be safe and provided for. Eric also liked to test his skill against other swordsmen every so often. And Logan for all his growling and claws was a swordsman. The only part of him that was taking the match seriously was his need to prove his dominance. Eric knew he was an arrogant bastard but with such a powerful mate, he felt the need to flex his own capabilities more than ever.

The fight seemed to go on forever from Rogue's anxious perspective. Part of her wanted to be in it herself. She hasn't tested her skills in too long but she knew that Logan would take care of that while he was here. The rest of her was starting to doubt that both of them would make it through the match in one piece, despite her best efforts.

They parried back and forth, neither giving much ground, each using all the force that they could bring to bear in punishing blows against the other. Rogue winced as a particularly savage slash of Eric's long sword drew blood for a moment before it healed and sent Logan reeling backwards for several steps.

With a roar, Logan battled back stronger, almost sending Eric's sword flying with a brutal bash of his hilt against Eric's sword edge. It wasn't a proper move, but it was effective. Wanting to bring the fight to a close, Eric swung in a move too quick for Logan to follow, locking their swords together. Swinging his other arm around in a vicious roundhouse punch, Eric rang Logan's bell, making him drop to the ground.

Picking up the two swords, Eric put them back up on the displays his mate took them down from as Logan slowly climbed back to his feet, shaking his head.

"Well," Logan said, shooting Marie a look. "At least I know you won't be able to get into too much trouble with this one around." He jerked his head towards Eric. "He's as much a tricky pain in the ass as you are."


	27. Chapter 26

**Skin Deep**

_Disclaimer: Not mine, etc._

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Rogue said, shrugging out of her leather jacket and taking of her gloves. Ignoring the lusty growls from her vampires she walked over to stand in front of Logan. They spar quite often with their adamantium katana but this time she wanted to go power-on-power. "My turn."

Giving her a deep, tongue twining kiss, Eric tapped her lightly on her ass before moving to stand next to Godric, neither vampire making any effort at hiding their hard-ons from their mate or her surrogate father. Seeing her with her blood up and getting a front-row seat at her using her powers is a guaranteed dick-hardener for the militaristic duo. And that's before you add in her skimpy leather outfit.

"Powers?" Logan cocked a brow at his little Marie. He was in no way comfortable with how overtly sexual her relationship is with her vamps but he is happy to see her coming out of her shell. He'll just have to deal with the other. No matter how much it sucks. Heh. Sucks.

"No Mags." She decided at once, a standard rule for their fights. Her using Erik's power against Logan kinda defeats the purpose. "Hmmm…no Jean either. Everything else goes."

"Sounds good, kid." Wolverine gave her a feral smirk.

This was gonna be a damned sight more satisfying than that little sword fight with her vampire. Granted it was a damned good fight, but him and the Rogue preferred goin' no-holds-barred and down-n-dirty fightin'. When it came right down to it, the only other mutant that could really hold their own with either of them is 'Tooth, and if the sexual relationship between Marie and her vamps made him uncomfortable the thought of a fight between Rogue and 'Tooth is even worse. That big bastard treats fights with Rogue like they're foreplay or somethin', fouling up the air with the stink of his arousal.

With a snikt and a feral snarl, Logan lunged for her only to have to stop and turn on a dime as she leapt and twisted over his head with a cute little grin. Smartass.

Reaching into her pocket she drew out a handful of tiny little ball bearings, charging them with Remy's power and flinging them at Wolverine. She studiously ignored the temptation to use Mag's power to make use of the cuff on her arm or the torc around her neck as a weapon. That wasn't what either was meant for. At least not for this kinda fight.

Logan grunted as a couple of the little explosives hit him before he could dodge. The kid's gotten better as usin' Gumbo's power since the last time they went a round. He backed her towards the wall, trying to keep those damned acrobatics of hers to a minimum.

Laughing, she used the sparks left in the air from using Remy's power to create a living flame, forcing Logan to run and dodge to the side as she moved in and blocking his claws with a strike of her forearms against his own, forcing them up and out, she hit him dead in the solar plexus with a powerful high kick that sent him flying across the dojo as she stopped the flames with a thought.

Retracting his claws with a vicious grin, Logan and Rogue traded powerful blows in a contest reminiscent of one of his cage fights before she started to gain ground forcing him to back her off with his claws once again. Flipping out of range, she landed in a crouch with one palm to the floor. Under her hand the cushioned floor iced over, spikes shooting up as Logan tried to get close to her. Flipping over his head once again as he got close, she closed her iced-over hands around his neck and flipped him ass over tea kettle, landing on top of his chest with her knees pinning his shoulders and arms to the mat.

Grinning she lowered one now ice-free hand over his face in a wordless threat. She could absorb him and drop his ass before he could fight his way free. Rolling his eyes, he retracted his claws and tapped out.

Springing to her feet she helped him up, sending a wink behind her at their avidly-watching audience of two.

"Your acrobatics have gotten better." Logan said, rolling his shoulders. With one hand he rubbed his sternum absently. Good thing he had a healing factor, that kick of hers hurt like a bitch.

"Ran into Mystique awhile back." She said as she pretended to examine her nails. "It didn't go well. For her."

"Nice, kid." He grunted, slinging his flannel-covered arm around her mostly-bared shoulders. "You wanna talk about what you're gonna do with the Ice-Prick?"

"Nope." She popped the "p" with her lips. "I just want him to get back to New York in one piece. Other than that…" She trailed off taking in the faux-innocent looks Godric and Eric were giving her at her accusing glance. She knew they weren't going to take Bobby being here well.

"Good luck with that, darlin'." Logan snorted, clamping a cigar between his teeth and making his way back up to the main floor. He'd just find the kitchen and a Molson on his own. Too many damned pheromones in the air down here for him to wanna stick around much longer.

*l*l*l*l*

An hour later a freshly showered trio – Rogue insisted due to Logan's superior senses – came back upstairs. Godric heading directly for Eric's laptop sitting out on the coffee table in the living area next to the kitchen while Eric took off for Fangtasia to handle Sheriff business. Logan made a spectacle of staring at the ceiling as Rogue and Godric each gave the Viking a kiss goodbye. Whatever made them happy, what went on in their relationship wasn't any of his damned business.

Although it was weird smelling all three of 'em all over each other.

Heh. Reminded him of that time with the blonde go-go dancers in Vegas back in the eighties.

Good times.

Rogue shoved him with her bared shoulder as she moved into the kitchen to make dinner, Eric having told her that he could hear the other three mutants coming this way. Logan paced after her, a beer bottle dangling in his hand. He'd helped himself to her stash of beer and jerky while watching a hockey game on her projector while they were occupied downstairs.

"Whatcha makin', kid?" He asked as he propped himself up on a stool.

Eyeing him she laughed. "Steak and all the trimmin's with you _and _Pete to feed, nothin' else would do." Moving quickly she took out all the supplies that she would need and got to work, humming under her breath. Watching her carefully as Godric got to his feet and ushered the others inside before they could ring the doorbell – much to their surprise and dismay – Logan smiled.

"Ya look good, kid." He said, tapping her torc and ring with a finger. "Happy."

Surprised and pleased, she blushed.

"Ah am happy." Rogue said softly then continued cooking as Godric showed the junior X-Men into the kitchen and went back to working on the laptop. She could feel his amusement through their bond. Probably over Bobby's bristling pride at finding another man living with his ex. Underneath that there was a strong thread of happiness pulsing through their bond. She went him a gentle glance from under her lashes, knowing he would see it.

For the first time in longer than she can remember she wasn't just content or not depressed. She was genuinely happy with her mates. Logan's acceptance was just the icing on the cake for her.

"Roguey!" Jubilee bounced into the kitchen and up onto the stool next to Logan, ignoring his growl, as the two young men took seats at the table, Kurt perching on a stool beside Jubilee. Pete looked unsure if the chair would hold his weight while Bobby had a pissy look on his face.

"Hey Jujubee." Rogue smiled and waved at her while she focused on chopping veggies for a salad as a myriad of pots bubbled away on the stove and the steaks sizzled on the broiling rack. "Cute shoes."

"Thanks, chica." Jubilee snapped her ever-present gum. "So what's the deal with Mr. Gorgeous?" She asked in a mock-whisper as the guys all groaned. All the vivacious Asian girl had talked about on the plane ride down was about the guy Gambit said Rogue was dating. And that was a tall blonde Viking dude, not young guy who looked like he belonged on the cover of GQ.

Godric's amusement bloomed into full-blown laughter coming through the bond, making Rogue send him a teasing look at his suspiciously-still form. If she didn't know better she would say he was completely unmoved by the compliment instead of delighted by her embarrassment over her friend's comment.

"His name is Godric and he lives here with me." Was all she said, shooting Jubes a shut-up look when she would protest the lack of information. She would tell the others about her vampires in her own time, not to appease Ms. Motor-mouth's desire for gossip material.

"Oooh, chica." Jubilee waggled her eyebrows at her friend. "You finally find someone who can survive your skin?"

"She found two someones that can survive her skin." Logan said, smirking as Rogue hissed at him. After having to shut out the sounds and _smells_ of what the three of them get up to downstairs, he had no problem throwing her to the wolves. Or in this case, Jubilee.

"No shit." Jubes breathed, her eyes the size of dinner plates as Bobby made a choking sound over at the table and Pete turned bright red in embarrassment. The Russian mutant was as always a gentle giant and shy as the day is long. Kurt ignored all the by-play as he helped himself to some grapes, already knowing the backstory from Rogue herself. "Tell me. Tell me all."

"No." Rogue said firmly, bringing some dishes over to the table. "It's my private business and none of your concern."

"None of our concern?" Bobby was nearly choking on his rage. "You're my…"

"Your what." Godric's icy voice cut him off mid-sentence.

"Uh…"

"Your what." Putting the laptop down with a snap, he vamped over to stand directly in front of the boy, ignoring the others' shock over his sudden movement. "Finish your sentence, _boy_."

"Godric." Rogue said soothingly, putting her arms around him from behind and stroking her hands down his chest and abs. "He's not worth it, love."

"It is to me." Godric said simply, picking up one of her hands and kissing it right above Eric's ring, making sure to flash the large diamonds at the boy. "Eric would agree."

Rogue chuckled at that. Eric would've probably just ripped his throat out and been done with it.

"Not exactly the best argument in the world." She whispered in his ear as she felt him calming down while Bobby looked down at the floor.

Turning Godric kissed her deeply, forced to agree. Sending the boy one last warning look, he went back to his business only this time moving at human speed.

What-Would-Eric-Do? is usually a great way to end up with decapitated bodies and well-fucked women in your wake. While highly intelligent and controlled, sometimes his impulses still get the best of him. Especially where their little mate is involved.

"Ok, chica. Seriously." Jubilee crossed her arms over her chest as they moved to sit at the table. "What-da-fuck-was-that?"

Sighing, Rogue filled her plate from her spot between Logan and Kurt, well away from Bobby.

"Godric and Eric are vampires." She said at last, pretending not to hear the splutters coming from the three junior X-Men, again feeling the strands of amusement coming from Godric. She really was thankful Eric went to Fangtasia. Dealing with both vampires tonight would've been more than she could take with Jubes and Bobby here too.

"Like soulless, undead, bloodsucking _vampires_?" Bobby asked snidely. Which got him smacked upside the head with a claw from Logan.

"Vey are not soulless." Kurt said at once, having already had that discussion with Rogue.

"Well, hmm." That didn't go the way Bobby expected it to. The last person he thought would ever defend vampires of all things was the devout Nightcrawler.

"Thank you, Father Kurt." Godric said, having moved to the island counter once they were all seated at the table. "That means a great deal to me."

"_Nichts zu danken." (You're welcome.)_

*l*l*l*l*

While Rogue went outside with the X-Men to work with their powers, testing and training the three junior members, Godric stayed inside taking the opportunity to get to know her very interesting cousin a bit better.

"Father." Godric nodded cordially to the blue mutant. The man looked like a devil and spoke with the softness and care of an angel. To total opposite of himself with his young face concealing a demon inside.

"Godric." Kurt gave the vampire a small smile as he set down his book, gesturing for the man to join him in the other wing chair before the fire in Rogue's study.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a question of faith." Godric said slowly, trying to think of where to begin. "As a young vampire my life, my actions were simple. I followed a universal rule: survive or die. There was nothing I would not do, nothing out of bounds. I taught my progeny, Eric, the same."

Kurt nodded, frowning slightly, encouraging him to continue.

"In the last century or so I had begun to undergo a crisis of faith of sorts." Godric looked away, smiling as he spotted his little light outside sparring with the large Piotr. Taking a deep, unnecessary breath, he told Kurt what was bothering him. "Before I met Rogue, my little light, I had resolved to meet the sun. Do you understand what I am speaking of?"

"_Gott im Himmel." (God in Heaven.)_ Kurt breathed, eyes wide in his surprise. _"So etwas ist eine Todsünde." (Such a thing is a mortal sin.)_

"But vampires do not have souls, Father." Godric gently corrected the kind priest. "For us there is no such thing as a mortal sin."

"_Unsinn." (Nonsense.) _Kurt waved a clawed hand. _"Alle Geschöpfe haben Seelen. Auch Vampire." (All creatures have souls. Even vampires.)_

Godric hummed under his breath, truly taken by the pure soul Rogue's cousin possesses. It was strikingly similar to that of Rogue herself, his little light in the darkness of eternity.

"I do not delude myself that I shall live forever." Godric laughed, shaking his head as he thinks of the conceit of his kind. "No, one day I shall meet the true death. On that day, how you think God will punish one such as me? A creature that has done so many horrible things?"

"God doesn't punish." Kurt said picking his book back up, signaling the end of the conversation. "God forgives."

Nodding thoughtfully, Godric went out to join his only saving grace as she instructed and teased her fellow mutants, feeling her desire for his presence through their bond.

*l*l*l*l*

Later that night as the three lovers snuggled in the big bed below their two guests that are staying in their home, Godric thought on Kurt's words.

Eric had brought more of his things over from his house, leading to a rather joyful unpacking experience with Rogue and Jubilee cracking jokes and the yellow-clothed mutant critiquing the Viking's sense of style. Godric had heard back from his former second Isabel, now the Sheriff of Area Nine and she was overseeing his things being shipped to him while Rogue and Jubilee are planning a shopping trip to spend some of his money on some more changes of clothes to see him through until the packages arrive.

"I want to take the others to Fangtasia tomorrow." Rogue said sleepily from her place resting on Eric's chest, having decided to alternate which vampire she rests on each night. "I can't wait to see Bobby's face the first time he gets propositioned by a vampire."

"Male or female?" Eric asked with a smirk, thinking of the uptight mortal. What his lover ever saw in the creature is beyond him. He was entirely too narrow-minded for the free-spirited Rogue.

"Both." She decided with a wicked grin.

"I think that can be arranged." Eric gave her a deep kiss as she snuggled back into them.


End file.
